Dibrugarh: As part of its Golden Jubilee celebrations, the Dibrugarh Press Club today organised a special lecture under its “Aamar Alohi” series at Jagriti Hall on the topic “Mega Dam on Yarlung Tsangpo and Its Possible Impact: From Dibrugarh to Guwahati and Bangladesh.”
Delivering the lecture, eminent geologist and retired Dibrugarh University professor Dr. Jogendranath Sharma warned that China’s proposed Medog Hydropower Project could trigger severe ecological and humanitarian crises across downstream regions of Assam and beyond. The mega project, approved by the Chinese government on December 25, 2024, aims to generate 60,000 megawatts of electricity annually. It is being constructed in the seismically unstable and ecologically fragile region of Medog County in Tibet and is nearly 60 times larger than India’s biggest dams.
Dr. Sharma highlighted a range of serious environmental concerns. He explained that the water released from such large dams, often devoid of natural sediments, is referred to as “hungry water” and causes excessive erosion and flooding downstream. He added that the dam would damage groundwater systems, alter monsoon patterns, and endanger biodiversity throughout the Brahmaputra basin. The livelihoods of over two million fishermen dependent on the 218 species of fish in the Brahmaputra and Jamuna rivers would be at serious risk.
He stressed that a dam collapse caused by a strong earthquake could lead to a disaster comparable to or worse than the 1950 Assam earthquake. Although the Yarlung Tsangpo contributes only about five percent of the Brahmaputra’s total flow in Bangladesh, Dr. Sharma noted that the scale of intervention makes the danger no less urgent. He called for a joint environmental impact assessment between India and China to address these risks collectively.
India’s own proposed 11,000-MW Siang hydropower project was also mentioned during the lecture. While seen by some as a strategic response to China’s project, it too faces opposition due to similar environmental concerns. Dr. Sharma said that both projects need to be weighed carefully against the long-term environmental costs.
Describing the region around the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, Dr. Sharma said it is so rich in biodiversity that it has been called a natural botanical garden, a plant gene bank, and even a natural zoo. The area is home to over 2,000 species of plants, 680 species of fungi, 232 species of birds, 31 amphibians, and 2,000 types of insects. He warned that the construction of massive infrastructure such as tunnels, roads, ropeways, and transmission lines would destroy this ecologically sensitive terrain.
He further warned that the dam would affect the formation of thick fog, disturb underground water reserves, and disrupt delicate climatic conditions in Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan, and even parts of Tibet. In his view, the Medog project has rightly been identified as the most environmentally harmful dam project in the world.
The event was moderated by Dibrugarh Press Club General Secretary Ripunjoy Das. It drew a wide range of attendees, including All India Radio and Doordarshan Programme Head Lohit Deka, senior journalists Iqbal Ahmed, Lakhikanta Majindar Baruah, Lalit Sharma, and Anil Poddar, Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum leader Gandhapati Chungkrang, and the Director of the North East Fire Services Academy.
In recognition of his contributions, Dr. Jogendranath Sharma was honoured with a phulam gamocha, a memento, and a citation by the Dibrugarh Press Club.
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