Guwahati, April 8: In a significant development, BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Tapir Gao, on Tuesday warned that China’s proposed construction of the “Great Bend Dam” on the Yarlung Tsangpo River would have severe consequences for the downstream regions of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and the entire Northeast.
He said this today in Guwahati at a conference on “Ensuring Water Security, ecological integrity and Disaster Resilience in the Sub-Himalayan Region: The Case of the Brahmaputra’.
Gao further claimed that the Communist Party of China (CPC) is likely to select the next 15th Dalai Lama, a move that, according to him, could drastically alter the demographic composition of the Buddhist population across the Himalayan region, from Walong in Arunachal Pradesh to Jammu and Kashmir.
He emphasized that the threat extends beyond the river to the spiritual institution of the Dalai Lama. “Tibetan children are not taking lessons in their mother tongue but are forced to learn Mandarin,” he said.
Highlighting concerns about water security, Gao stated, “Brahmaputra, the son of Brahma, is the only male river originating from Mansarovar. China has only three major rivers and faces a water shortage. Tibetologists have pointed out that the Chinese have already started building tunnels to divert water from the Yarlung Tsangpo to the Yellow River.”
He reiterated his stance in the Lok Sabha, alleging that China is not merely constructing dams but effectively creating “water bombs.”
Experts from Vietnam, Nepal and Bhutan also took part in the conference along with other experts spanning domains of ecology, water resource management, international relations, environmental law, engineering, policy formulation, governance, and economy.
The conference, organised by the think-tank ‘Asian Confluence’, sought to foster a collaborative dialogue between governmental agencies, civil society organizations, environmental practitioners, and academicians on the immense challenges posed by the proposed dam in Tibet, amidst the looming threat of climate change.
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