Why Tibet Matters.
Can download this Infographic at http://tibet.net/#/wtm/1

CHINA’S NEW ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION LAW, NOT FOR TIBET

The toxic smog engulfing Beijing and other Chinese cities has forced the Communist government to amend its development model and bring in a new environmental protection law in a bid to calm ever growing public anger. Unfortunately, as in the past, the new environment law may prefer to stay within China proper rather than extend into the ethnic regions of the PRC.

Ever since the former President Hu Jintao’s scientific development concept slogan in 2003, there has been loud government rhetoric on environment protection, but the lack of genuine efforts was evident from Chai Jing’s ‘Under the Dome’ documentary film. The film reveals that the giant state-owned companies continue to flout environmental laws and still pride themselves as patriots

Site of the Lianghekou Dam currently under construction will be the highest embankment Dam in China

So, how might the new environmental protection law be enforced is a question which needs analysis.

The swift approval of the new law and the appointment of Chen Jining as the minister to enforce the law is a step forward. This is a welcome indication that President Xi Jinping is serious about environmental protection. But the commercial interests of the giant state-owned companies are deeply intertwined with the wealth of the Chinese central and provincial officials. So any moves directly affecting this lucrative business would mean serious internal friction.

Therefore the Chinese government may take an approach that aims to appease both the officials and urban citizens. Beijing would enforce the new environmental law as strictly as possible in China proper to calm growing public dissent, while leaving the law ambiguously enforced in the ethnic regions like Inner Mongolia, East Turkestan and Tibet (as it often does in the ethnic regions where constitutional rights are misinterpreted and curbed in the name of development and stability). Such an approach would thus enable the Chinese companies to continue making money far away from Beijing; in places where the laws are interpreted and manipulated as it suits the interests of the central and local officials, or where environment protests are ruthlessly suppressed as they are deemed ‘anti-national’ or ‘influenced by the Dalai clique’.

The more than 20 large-scale mining protests in Tibetan areas brutally suppressed by the Chinese government in the past 5 years is a dreadful reminder of the ambiguity of such laws.

• The Gyama (near Lhasa) mine landslide in March 2013 which killed 83 mine workers was clearly induced by mismanagement of the mine, but the company was not punished.
• The same mine was blamed for the poisoning of a stream flowing through Dokar village in September 2014, but the officials again sided with the mining company. The stream is a tributary of Lhasa Kyichu River which joins the Yarlung Tsangpo or the Brahmaputra.
• On August 2013, the locals of Zatoe in Kham (north-eastern Tibet) protested against mining in the Sianjainyun (Source region of Machu, Drichu and Zachu River) Nature Reserve. The officials fired tear gas and detained the locals instead of enforcing the nature reserve protection laws.
• Mining has been declared the pillar industry in the Tibetan areas, despite being the biggest threat to the fragile ecosystem of the world’s highest plateau, thus hurting both the land and the people of this ancient civilization.

So the terrifying visible outcome is that the Tibetan plateau is being plundered and poisoned, and gradually being turned into another toxic Chinese province. Environmental protection means not repeating past errors, but Beijing seems completely indifferent when it comes to the need of protecting the environment of the ethnic regions.

This indifference is apparent if we take a careful assessment of President Xi Jinping’s commitment to peak carbon emissions by 2030. This surely is a way forward, but it means drastically reducing coal consumption. So as Grace Mang of International Rivers put it so aptly in her article ‘No need to sacrifice rivers for power’,  that the devil is in the details, and how will Beijing plan to quench the ever rising energy thirst of the world’s second largest economy?

Unfortunately, the Chinese government is set to dam and divert water from Tibetan rivers to light cities and factories in China. Like the removal of Tibetan nomads from grasslands to bring in mining, the fragile ecosystem of the Tibetan plateau is now being put at risk to reduce smog in coastal cities of China.

The risk from 510 megawatt Zammu hydropower dam on Yarlung Tsangpo in Gyatsa county  of Southern Tibet and the 295 meter high Lianghekou dam on Nyakchu River in the Nyarong area of the eastern Tibet is simply too great. The impact on the region’s wildlife habitat and reduced river flow into the downstream areas are apparent, but the most dreadful threat would be from (RIS) Reservoir-Induced Seismic activity like the horrifying Wenchuan and Ludian earthquakes. Experts have voiced the possibility of 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (which killed 80,000 people) induced by the nearby Zipingpu Dam and the 2014 Ludian earthquake in Yunnan, which was similarly induced by the Xiluodu dam.

Sadly, China has planned more such mega dams on Tibetan rivers and destructive mining on the mountains, a rapidly surging threat on the fragile plateau.

The call for the rule of law in China by President Xi Jinping is a glimmer of hope that the laws would be enforced and the unruly state-owned companies would be disciplined. But the question is, will the new environmental protection law be equally and fairly enforced and extended into Tibet?

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*The writer, Zamlha Tempa Gyaltsen is a research fellow at Environment & Development Desk of the Tibet Policy Institute

Poisoning Tibetan Rivers: Why is it not so natural?

 “In the past, our rivers were crisp and clean, the mountains and valleys were known for their natural beauty. But now the rivers are polluted with poisonous waste from the mines,”  is what a local resident said to Radio Free Asia hoping that letting the  news out to the world would at least raise pressure on local authorities to act as the  people’s government,  rather than of the mining companies. Such grievances are numerous and wide spread among the Tibetan population in recent years due to the desecration of their mountains and poisoning of their rivers by destructive mining practices followed in Tibetan areas under Chinese occupation.

Fig1. River Poisoned by Gyama Mine

On September 23, 2014, more than 1000 local Tibetans of Dokar and Zibuk villages near Tibetan capital city Lhasa protested against poisoning of their rivers by Gyama Copper Poly-metallic Mine. The mine is located close to a stream that locals use for drinking, irrigation and animal feeding. But as always, the local officials conveniently declared that the water pollution in the rivers was caused by natural factors and not by the mine.

A similar official statement was issued back in 2013, when 83 mine workers of the same mine were killed in a mine induced landslide due to mismanagement of mine waste or over-piling of mine waste rocks on a steep V-shaped valley. The official statement was obediently published by Xinhua News without the slightest hint of journalistic objectivity despite the loss of so many lives. This systematic approach without any legal transparency and with no sense of compunction by the local Chinese government in Tibetan areas has become a dangerous trend and bizarre scenario.

The Gyama Mine is operated by Huatailong Mining Development, a subsidy of the China National Gold Group Corporation, and ironically is praised as eco-friendly and a model mine by China. If the standard and qualification for a model mine is of such, then the plight of the people and state of the environment is seriously in danger. The deliberate and systematic falsification of causes behind the Gyama mine landslide and river water poisoning by Chinese local government could only be explained by themselves.

But a 2010 article titled “Environmental impact of mining activity on the surface water quality in Tibet: Gyama valley,” by Xiang et al., firmly ascertains that “a localized severe heavy metal contamination is documented in the stream water of Gyamaxung-chu (chu means river) and wastewater treatment facilities in the Gyama valley.” It also states that “the environmental risk at the Gyamaxung-chu source area, where the measured contents correspond mainly to geochemical background was zero. However, there was a very high risk at the upper and middle parts of the stream and it appears to be both natural and accelerated by the extensive mining activities. The levels of metals (such as lead, copper, cadmium and zinc) represent the high risk for the environment, including local human populations and their livestock.”

Fig2. Dokar Village where the poisoned river flow through

The article further goes on to say that  “ the  great environmental concern are the many mining and processing deposits in the valley, containing large amount of heavy metals, such as lead, copper, zinc and manganese etc. These deposits are prone to leak its contaminants through seepage water and erosion of particulates, and pose therefore a future risk for the local environment and a potential threat to the downstream water quality.”

Gyamaxung-chu is a mountain spring fed by groundwater, rain and melting snow with continuous flow throughout the year providing life for the many villages situated on its path before draining into the Lhasa river and finally into the Yarlung Tsangpo or Brahmaputra.

A similar Assessment Report by Environment and Development Desk of Central Tibetan Administration back in 2013 after the Gyama mine landslide clearly produced strong evidence to link the landslide with the mismanagement of mine waste.

Considering the evidences, why do the relevant authorities refuse to see the truth and deny justice for its own people? Who granted mining companies so much power that they could get away with killing its own workers and poisoning community rivers? The only conclusion according to the local Tibetans is that there is an absolute cozy camaraderie between mining companies and local officials. The power of this nexus overrides everything else: ethnic cultural rights, local community interests, mineral resource extraction procedures and environmental laws. They could even manipulate official media and experts to validate outright crimes against its own people and the environment.

Fig3. Dokar Village with Gyama Mine Site seen in the background

The recent protest against river water poisoning is a desperate attempt after almost five years of continuous pleas to the  Chinese authorities in Lhasa.  The so called people’s government threatens and intimidates its own people for raising such issues of public interest. The people are left with no choice but to seek help from the outside world by appealing to international media, hoping Beijing would take notice and the central government would come to their rescue. I am sure Beijing cares about the welfare of its people. According to a report in China Daily (23-01-2013) the central urban areas of Beijing city alone have 300 water quality monitoring stations. How many such stations are there in the Tibetan areas and why are the people of Gyama valley denied of such rights?

The poisoning of Tibetan rivers will have catastrophic consequences to both China and the world, as Tibet is home to the largest store of accessible fresh water and source of Asia's six greatest rivers (Yangtze, Yellow, Mekong, Salween, Indus and Brahmaputra), feeding some of the world's most populated nations like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China.

Tibetans take great pride in the purity of their rivers and  causing river water pollution is simply against their way of life. In the 11^th century when Indian Buddhist scholar, Atisha Dipamkara visited Tibet, he was overjoyed by the freshness and purity of Tibetan rivers so much that he recommended the waters of Tibet be served as the greatest offering to Lord Buddha. Since then the unmistakable Tibetan culture of water offering is prominently visible in every home and monastery. But what will the people of Gyama valley would offer to the Gods, when the very basic necessity of drinking water for the community is poisoned?

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 Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha is an Environment Research Fellow at the Tibet Policy Institute

Damming Tibetan and Himalayan Rivers

‘More than 60% of the world’s 227 largest rivers have been fragmented by infrastructures such as dams and diversions. Rivers are turned on and off instead of flowing by natural rhythms. Many rivers are thus but shadows of their former selves and the blue lines on the map are often tokens of faded glories’- UNESCO-IHP 

Rivers originating from the Himalayan ranges and other regions in Tibet drain approximately 6 million sq. km or more. These snow peaks and glaciers enable these regions to be the source of major rivers that flow into Asia, approximately sustaining 1.3 billion people. 

One could easily observe the Chinese dam building frenzy from their past records, as per the World Commission on Dams, China had only 22 large dams in 1949 and today there are more than 87,000 dams in China.  It even plans to dam the rivers that still remain free flowing, such as the Arun (Arun flows from Tibet as Bhumchu to Nepal and India) and the Subansiri (Subansiri River is a tributary of the Brahmaputra River flowing from Tibet to the Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh) before flowing into India. 

According to South China Morning Post , on the 23 of January 2013, the state council has released an energy-sector blue print for 2011-2015 in which they have decided to construct at least 54 hydro power stations with total capacity of 120 GW on the upper reaches of Yangtse, Mekong and Salween. It clearly disregards the geological risks, global biodiversity, resettlement and impacts on downstream communities.   This plan also includes the reopening of previously shelved damming projects on Salween River due to environmental concerns. 

According to International Rivers, many of these damming projects have forced over 23 million people from their homes and land, many of whom are still suffering the impacts of displacement and dislocation. Yet despite serious impacts of dam construction in China, the Chinese government has ambitious plans to expand hydropower generation.  Not only are these rivers subjected to hydropower projects but also these free flowing rivers and its power attracts major extractive industries from distant mainland. Now, with a strong policy backings from Beijing towards the mining sector, designating them as one of Beijing’s “Four Pillar” industries in Central Tibet. These transboundary rivers will obviously face more toxic pollutions and barriers along its path. The western rivers such as Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) and its major tributaries in Tibet (Kyichu, Nyangchu, Tongchu, Nyang Trib Chu, Drakchu, Wolga Chu, Chllong Chu, Yiwong Chu, Parlung Chu) are now being increasingly interrupted by medium sized dams (Fig. 3). Such activities paint a bleak picture as they would definitely impede the downstream flow of water and alluvial sediment to the floodplains of India and Bangladesh. The information has it that, two new additional dams (Bayu and Daigu) are being planned along the mainstream of Yarlung Tsangpo along with the full swing construction of 510 megawatt project at Rdzam/ Zangmu.

The official narration from China towards these damming is, as usual, same except a small change in the date. 'The Chinese side always takes a responsible attitude towards the exploitation of cross border rivers and every new project will be planned and reasoned in a scientific way - before being started' was the response by Hong Lei, the foreign ministry during a daily press briefing. 

China is (indeed) the central (poker) player in many of the controversies surrounding shared water resources in Asia with more damming plans for its upstream reserves that will have dramatic impacts on the lower riparian countries.  

On this side of the political border, the hydropower potential for the remaining Himalayan countries also remains very attractive for the power companies. K. Pomeranz, estimated that for Pakistan, India, Bhutan and Nepal, the hydropower potential could be jaw dropping 192,000 megawatts with almost half of it on the Indian side.  

Fig1. Distribution of dams under various planning stages on the rivers flowing from Tibet and on The Indian Himalayan regions; Adapted from Zoomer & Tashi (2013) and Pandit and Grumbine, 2012.

According to Pandit and Grumbine , the hydropower potentials within the Indian Himalayan Rivers (Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus) are enormous (50,000 MW) and the Government of India is keen to invest on these water resources. The authors also mentioned that this region could be the highest dam density in the world and would also cause huge loss and extinction of terrestrial species and change in land cover should all the 292 Dams (under construction and proposed - Fig. 1) are constructed as planned. A separate article published by Hindustan Times-Darjeeling discusses about the grand master plan as envisioned by the Central government of India in identifying the North-Eastern region as 'India’s future powerhouse' by building about 160 or more dams. It also quoted a statement from a former West Bengal State Planning Board member that the earthquake that struck Sikkim on September, 2011 could have been induced or accelerated by the multiple dams on Teesta River. 

A UNESCO-IHP report mentioned that both water and culture are strongly interrelated and their perfect blending is crucial for flourishing of human culture.  But, by looking at the current pace of damming activities and its various impacts, it appears that we have moved too far for a complete U-turn to a point close to ‘A’, but still, timely enough to admit our past errors in understanding the true value of these resources to sustain our ancestral culture and tradition.

The geological nature of the Tibetan plateau and the Himalayan belt indicates that the whole region in its entirety is still rising higher and often jolted with strong and weak earthquakes. The dams constructed on the seismic prone zones and near active fault lines could be a perfect recipe for an unfolded future disaster. In most cases, the locals were poorly informed or not consulted during this maddening spree of damming and traversing the natural rhythm of rivers in the name of developments.

In China, dam safety has always been treated as a sensitive subject. Now, incidents at a number of dams and reservoirs have cast doubt on the quality of these projects, but they are rarely reported to the general public.  In 2012, a study conducted by ‘Probe International’ mentioned that more than 99.7 percent of large dams in western China (in Tibet) are located in zones of moderate to very high seismic hazard (as defined by UN Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program). 

Fig2. Seismic events (magnitude ≥ 5) that occurred between 1973-2013 and active structures within the Himalayan Regions. Source: EDD/ DIIR 2013.

Figure 2 explains the seismic prone areas within the Himalayan belt and warns us about the imminent threat posed by those 200 or more dams that are built or under construction throughout the Himalayan regions.

 

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References:

Water, Cultural Diversity, and Global Environmental Change, Emerging Trends and Sustainable Futures? (UNESCO-IHP, 2012); http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/now_available_online_water_cultural_diversity_and_global_environmental_change_emerging_trends_sustainable_futures/

China, International Rivers,  http://www.internationalrivers.org/programs/china

China Holds the Key to Asia’s ‘Blue Gold’ (December 15, 2011), http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/china-holds-the-key-to-asias-blue-gold/484739

South China Morning Post, ‘Ban lifted on controversial Nu River dam projects’ January, 2013 http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1135463/ban-lifted-controversial-nu-river-dam-projects

International Rivers China Moves to Dam the Nu, Ignoring Seismic, Ecological, and Social Risks,  http://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/china-moves-to-dam-the-nu-ignoring-seismic-ecological-and-social-risks-7807

South China Morning Post, ‘Ban lifted on controversial Nu River dam projects’ January, 2013 http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1135463/ban-lifted-controversial-nu-river-dam-projects

China, Internaitonal Rivers, http://www.internationalrivers.org/programs/china

Xinhua, China justifies Yarlung Zangbo River exploitation, Updated: 2013-01-30

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-01/30/content_16188880.htm 

Kenneth Pomeranz , ‘The Great Himalayan Watershed: Water Shortages, Mega-Projects and Environmental Politics in China, India, and Southeast Asia, http://japanfocus.org/-kenneth-pomeranz/3195

Maharaj K. Pandit  and R. Edward Grumbine, 'Potential Effects of Ongoing and Proposed Hydropower Development on Terrestrial Biological Diversity in the Indian Himalaya', Conservation Biology, Volume 26, No. 6, 1061–1071, 2012, Society for Conservation Biology, DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01918.x

'Sikkim quake may have been induced by dams across Teesta', Hindustan Times  Darjeeling, September 21, 2011

 http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/WestBengal/Sikkim-quake-may-have-been-induced-by-dams-across-Teesta/Article1-748547.aspx

Water, Cultural Diversity, and Global Environmental Change, Emerging Trends and Sustainable Futures? (UNESCO-IHP, 2012); http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/now_available_online_water_cultural_diversity_and_global_environmental_change_emerging_trends_sustainable_futures/

Lu Zongshu and ShenNianzu, Dams gone wrong: Is danger lurking in China's dams?, August 24, 2011,  http://journal.probeinternational.org/2011/08/24/dams-gone-wrong-is-danger-lurking-in-china%E2%80%99s-dams/     

John Jackson (2012), A Probe International Study, Earthquake Hazards and Large Dams in Western China.

IATS Conference in Mongolia Discussed Climate Change in Tibet

The 13th International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS) conference is being held at Ulaanbatar in Mongolia from 21-26 July, where for the first time, the issue of climate change on the Tibetan plateau was discussed.

Click here to read more

Water availability and management

Growing industrialization, population growth, and increasing levels of consumption are placing heavy demands on water resources, which provide vital support for the subsistence livelihoods of millions of people. Figure 1 explains in brief the baseline water stress regions in Asia. The tension on water availability is further raised by the rate at which Chinese are commissioning damming projects on those trans-boundary rivers. With no foreseeable increase in the water availability and no water sharing treaty in action, all the riparian states from Pakistan till Vietnam are at the mercy of these massive reservoirs within Tibet and China. As for India, its water demand will double by 2030 reaching 1.5 trillion cubic meters, principally driven by population growth and the domestic need for agriculture [1]. 

Figure1. Baseline Water Stress Regions in Asia Map © EDD/ DIIR 

According to recent report released on Himalayan Glaciers, the combined river basin of Indus, Ganga/ Brahmaputra benefits/ supports more than 744 million people living within the contiguous arc from Afghanistan to Bangladesh (Fig 2). The use of water in the agricultural sector has increased over the past few decades. It is estimated as per 2000 data that the irrigation area for Indus (15 MHA), Ganga/ Brahmaputra basin (29 MHA) - million hectares and will continue to increase further[2]. 

Fig 2. Fraction of the land equipped for irrigation in the HKH region. Irrigation is widespread in both the Indus and Ganges/Brahmaputra basins. A relatively large amount of irrigated water consumption in the Indus basin is for cotton production. In the Brahmaputra basin, by comparison, irrigation water use is dominated by rice production, while in the Ganges basin, irrigated water is used primarily for wheat production.

Source: National Academy of Science (2012) http://www.nasonline.org/

Looking towards China, a survey data analyzed by the Joint Monitoring Program for Water and Sanitation of WHO and UNICEF mentioned that about 100 million Chinese still did not have access to an improved water source in 2008, and about 460 million did not have access to improved sanitation. Water scarcity threatens the ability of China's farmers to irrigate their crops, impacting food security as well as social stability, especially in northern China. A case in point is the impact in Yunnan province which is facing a severe drought and government is responding by proposing huge reservoirs and dams on the already stressed rivers flowing from the province[3].   Every year, water shortages cost the country an estimated 40-60 billion RMB  in lost economic output. Continued scarcity and uncertainty will affect the willingness of foreign and domestic companies to invest in China, further lowering the production of existing facilities, and ultimately affecting its job market[4]. 

For China, Tibet's rivers are proving as rich resources for hydro electric and geo-political power as its mineral wealth. Chinese 12th Five Year Plan (2011- 2015) has prioritized the development of Hydro power projects, it also plans to revive two third of those unfinished hydro power projects detailed in the 11th Five Year Plan. According to South China Morning Post, (on line edition -January 2013)[5], the Chinese state council has released an energy sector blueprint for 2011-2015 in which they have decided to construct at least 54 hydro power stations with a total capacity of 120 GW on the upper reaches of Drichu (Yangtse), Zachu (Mekong) and Salween. It clearly disregards the geological risks, global biodiversity, resettlement and impacts on downstream communities. This plan also includes the reopening of previously shelved dam projects on the Salween River due to environmental concerns. On a macro level, China is planning to install 1.2 TW (1200 GW) of water-reliant power capacity by 2030 and 277 GW of coal fired power plant by 2015. As for the latter case, the majority of the coal reserves in China are in water scarce regions of Shanxi and Inner Mongolia and it is a well known that coal mining requires heavy water use[6].

Managing and securing the water resource in Tibet could be the biggest and most important challenge for the new Chinese leaders. Downstream users of water originating in Tibet should establish a regional forum to create policies on trans boundary issues that effectively safeguard access and quality of water, at a time of accelerating glacier melt and damming activities.

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[1] As quoted in (‘The McKinsey Report’)by IDSA, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, 'Water Security For India: The External Dynamics,' IDSA Task Force Report, September, 2010, ISBN # 81-86019-83-9

[2] Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security Committee on Himalayan Glaciers, Hydrology, Climate Change, and Implications for Water Security; Board on Atmospheric Studies and Climate; Division on Earth and Life Studies; National Research Council http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13449

[3] 'Why has water-rich Yunnan become a drought hotspot?', http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/5940-Why-has-water-rich-Yunnan-become-a-drought-hotspot-

[4] Yusha Hu, Foreign Investment in China’s Water Infrastructure, A New Strategy for National Security. http://www.chinasecurity.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=308&Itemid=8

[5] Ban lifted on controversial Nu River dam projects,

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1135463/ban-lifted-controversial-nu-river-dam-projects

[6] HSBC Global research, ‘No water, no power, Is there enough water to fuel China’s power expansion?’ September, 2012.