China kicks off Tibet mega-dam project

Concerns arose in India as the dam besides empowering China to control the water flow, the size and scale of it could also enable Beijing to release large amounts of water flooding border areas in times of hostilities

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

China Saturday formally started the construction of a $167.8 billion dam over the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, close to the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced the start of the construction of the dam at a groundbreaking ceremony in the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River, locally known as Yarlung Zangbo, at Nyingchi City, official media reported.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place at the dam site of Nyingchi’s Mainling hydropower station in Tibet Autonomous Region, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The hydropower project, regarded as the biggest infrastructure project in the world, raised concerns in the lower riparian countries, India and Bangladesh.