YARLUNG PROJECT: The Dangers of Playing with Nature

China has launched the construction of the Yarlung Hydropower Project. The project, located in the geologically sensitive Pemakoe region, also known as the Great Bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo, sits in an area of dramatic elevation change from about 2,900 meters above sea level at Pai to just 600 meters at the end of the Bend. This steep descent creates a hydroelectric potential of nearly 60,000 megawatts, which China is determined to harness despite the immense technological, environmental, and political challenges it entails writes Dr. Rakesh Sharma On July 19, Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee