Beijing, Jan 7 (PTI) China on Tuesday said the 6.8-magnitude earthquake near one of Tibet’s holiest cities, which claimed at least 126 lives, caused no damage to any dams or reservoirs in the country.
The statement by the Ministry of Water Resources came as the earthquake highlighted concerns raised by experts about China’s plan to build the world’s largest dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet near the Indian border.
According to regional disaster relief headquarters, the quake jolted Dingri County in Xigaze in Tibet Autonomous Region in China at 9:05 am local time.
At least 126 people have been confirmed dead and 188 others injured, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Following the earthquake, China’s Ministry of Water Resources stated that inspections found no impact on dams or reservoirs in the region, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
China in December approved the construction of the dam, stated to be the world’s biggest infra project costing USD 137 billion, raising concerns in riparian states – India and Bangladesh.
On Monday, Beijing reiterated its plan to go ahead with the planned mega dam, located in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region along a tectonic plate boundary where earthquakes occur frequently, saying that the project has gone through rigorous scientific verification and will not have any negative impact on downstream countries — India and Bangladesh.
Last month, Fan Xiao, a geologist based in China’s Sichuan province, warned against Beijing’s plan to construct the controversial mega dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, citing its location in a geologically unstable biodiversity hotspot that could cause “irreparable” environmental damage.
According to a report published last month in the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, Fan said the dam’s location was in a rare “biodiversity hotspot” in a geologically unstable area, which could potentially lead to “irreparable damage” to the environment.
He noted the area is very seismically active, and building a cascade of mega hydropower stations – involving high dams, large reservoirs and giant tunnels – would increase the risk of landslides and other disasters.
“The geological instability and the likelihood of geological disasters in the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon are much higher than those of other rivers in western China, where we’ve seen plenty of instances of negative impacts as a result of cascaded hydropower development,” Fan told the Post.
“I’m afraid the construction of the proposed hydropower project would incur unprecedented huge costs and face enormous risks,” he said.
As per the Chinese government’s plan, the massive dam will be built at a huge gorge in the Himalayan reaches where the Brahmaputra makes a huge U-turn to flow into Arunachal Pradesh and then to Bangladesh.
In its first reaction to the proposed dam on Jan 3, India urged China to ensure that the interests of downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in upstream areas.
“We will continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect our interests,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told media in New Delhi.
“As a lower riparian state with established user rights to the waters of the river, we have consistently expressed, through expert-level as well as diplomatic channels, our views and concerns to the Chinese side over mega projects on rivers in their territory,” Jaiswal said. PTI KJV/SCY SCY SCY
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