China's New Mega Dam Near Indian Border Poses Huge Geological Risk: Report
A Beijing-backed geological study has identified significant structural risks for a massive hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The presence of an active fault line beneath the dam raises concerns about environmental and safety impacts for downstream nations like India and Bangladesh.
Why it matters
The project's potential instability poses a major environmental and humanitarian risk to millions of people living downstream in South Asia.
China's under-construction mega hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet has led to concerns in India and Bangladesh over water supply and environmental impacts downstream. Now, a Beijing-backed geological study has flagged its structural safety, the South China Morning Post reported.An active fault line directly beneath the project could pose a threat to the mega dam and significantly affect the integrity of its infrastructure, according to the findings, published in a study supervised by the state-owned China Geological Survey, added.The Paizhen Fault runs directly through the reservoir area of the massive hydropower project, the study, published last month in the Chinese-language journal Sedimentary Geology and Tethyan Geology, stated. Researchers said the fault has remained active since the Pleistocene (Ice Age) and could significantly affect the structural integrity of dams, bridges, roads, tunnels and other infrastructure built in the region.The Yarlung Tsangpo flows into India's Arunachal Pradesh and Assam as…
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