Updated:
January 31, 2021 11:37 IST
China is planning to build a huge dam on the river Brahmaputra. And it has raised concern in downstream countries – India and Bangladesh. What is the Chinese dam project all about and what could be its impact? Let’s find out in this Five Ws & One H.
Share Article
AAA
In this July 17, 2020, file photo released by China s Xinhua News Agency, water flows out from sluiceways at the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River near Yichang in central China s Hubei Province. Engorged with heavy rains, China s mighty Yangtze River crested again in July, as destructive seasonal floods have grown in force since June. This year has seen record Atlantic hurricanes and western wildfires, devastating floods in Asia and Africa and a hot, melting Arctic. It s not just been a disastrous year, but a year of disasters. | Photo Credit:
2021-01-28 15:35:45 GMT2021-01-28 23:35:45(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
HARARE, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) disclosure process for the 4.5 billion U.S. dollars Batoka Gorge Hydro-Electric Scheme (BGHES) has been completed, paving the way for the implementation of the project, an official said Thursday.
Chairperson of the Zambezi River Authority Council of Ministers, Zhemu Soda, who is also Zimbabwean Minister of Energy and Power Development, made the disclosure during the 38th Council of Ministers virtual meeting held Thursday. It is encouraging to learn that most of the preparatory works for the implementation of the scheme have been completed. This includes the updating of the 1993 engineering feasibility studies and the undertaking of the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) studies which have culminated in the production of a draft ESIA report.
China could build up to 60 gigawatts (GW) of hydropower capacity on a section of the Brahmaputra river, known as the Yarlung Tsangbo, which flows from Tibet into India and Bangladesh, Chinese state media reported on Monday, citing a senior executive.
BW Businessworld
India-China Hydropower Battle: Who Will Win?
Despite these concerns, India has a lot of potential when it comes to renewables, especially hydropower. As per the Centre for Science and Environment, the North East has the potential to switch to 100% renewable.
Photo Credit :
The year 2020 saw multiple instances of standoff between China and India, primarily in the Leh-Laddakh region. The two countries have had a stream of differences on border issues, including the North East, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh. There is speculation that the fight now has gone beyond the actual battlefield to energy infrastructure and water supply, with hydropower at the forefront.
news
Court reprieve for China’s rare green peafowl but it’s not out of the woods yet The green peafowl was thought to be extinct in China. Photo: Weibo
A court in southwestern China has upheld a landmark lower-court ruling to suspend work on a massive hydropower project that environmentalists say would push the endangered green peafowl to extinction.
But the Yunnan Higher People s Court also dismissed an environmental group s formal legal bid to end the construction for good and permanently safeguard the habitat of a species that is rarer than the giant panda.
The green peafowl is China s only native peacock, with just 500 estimated to be left in the wild after decades of excessive hunting, loss of habitat, pesticide poisoning and deforestation.