China’s Mega Tibet Dam Raises Fresh Concerns Over Himalayan Ecological Risks

China’s mega hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet has renewed concerns over large infrastructure in the ecologically fragile and seismically active Himalayas.

Beijing began construction in July 2025 on the river’s lower cascade near Medog, calling it the ‘project of the century’.

The project could cost around 1.2 trillion yuan and generate nearly three times the power produced by the Three Gorges Dam.

The river drops nearly 2,000 metres through a short, earthquake-prone gorge before entering India as the Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and later becoming the Brahmaputra in Assam.

A report by One World Outlook highlighted growing risks from warming, glacier loss, permafrost thaw and extreme monsoon events. It cited a 2022 Nature Geoscience study warning that warming destabilises rocks and ice across High Mountain Asia, increases sediment loads and threatens reservoir safety.

The report noted that two-thirds of Himalayan hydropower projects lie along potential outburst-flood pathways.

Nepal recorded nearly 1,400 deaths and more than 5,000 missing people after devastating floods struck the Nepal-China border on August 26.

Chinese authorities reported deaths and hundreds missing in Gyirong County, where rescue teams searched underground powerhouses.

The report described the disaster as a compound event involving a warming cryosphere, unstable mountains and intensive infrastructure development. It stressed that Himalayan glaciers store winter water and release it during spring, supporting monsoon systems and limiting soil erosion. With nearly two billion people dependent on the region, environmental disruption could carry far-reaching consequences.

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