China completes works of huge hydropower dam on Brahmaputra which might cause flash floods in India

, Nov 24: India has a new reason to worry. China has built a new hydropower dam on the

which might cause flash floods and landslides in the downstream area which lies in India and Bangladesh, said a

The dam, called Yarlung Zangbo, is in Tibet. India, which has repeatedly communicated with China, expressing fears about the dangers of damming the mighty Brahmaputra in Tibet, didn't know about this massive project. China had always told India that it was building only smaller, run-off-the-river dams to generate electricity.

On Monday, China announced that the Tibet's largest hydropower station became partly operational on Sunday. Now, fears have escalated as the new dam will affect the mighty Himalayan river's flow into Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of the northeastern region of India.Zangmu is one of the five projects China has planned on the Brahmaputra to generate a total of 2,000MW of hydro power.

The projects have been opposed by environmentalists who argue that the projects will unsettle fragile ecology in the Tibetan region. The region, which doesn't have many industries, do not need much electricity.

India had recently decided to form commissions to study the impact of dam building and behavioral changes in the Brahmaputra. However, experts say that little would be yielded from such delayed studies as China is quickly completing the works of four more such dams.

The official statement of Beijing said that the first section of the $1.5 billion Zangmu Hydropower Station went into operation Sunday afternoon and five other sections are due for completion soon. The power plant is a height of over 3,300m above sea level in Tibet which is known as the 'roof of the world'.