Last week, the Chinese government started work on the construction of a massive hydropower project on the Yarlung Zangbo, just before the river bends and enters Arunachal Pradesh, where it is called the Siang. The river then flows into Assam, where it is called the Brahmaputra. The $170 billion project, linked to Beijing’s developmental goals in the Tibetan region, is expected to generate 60 GW of electricity, roughly three times more than the Three Gorges Dam. The project has stirred old anxieties in the river’s downstream, especially in Arunachal Pradesh and Bangladesh. Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu has described the Chinese project as a “ticking water bomb”. An increase in the Chinese capacity to manipulate the river’s flows once the dam is........

© Indian Express