네팔서 중국으로 ‘초국경 재해’…‘세계 최대 댐’ 야루짱부 현장 안전할까

A massive disaster in Nepal, known as a "super-regional calamity," has raised concerns over the safety of the world's largest dam, Yarlung Zangbo in China. Experts have warned that the massive dam construction could increase vulnerability to natural disasters in the region. Last July, China began a 1.2 trillion yuan ($244.6 billion) waterpower development project in Lingshutang of Qinghai province, which plans to build a dam and five cascade power stations over a 50km stretch of the Yarlung Zangbo River, generating up to 3000 billion kWh of electricity annually, three times larger than China's largest current power plant, the Sheshan hydroelectric plant in Sichuan province.

The river flows through China, India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, and the downstream areas of the Yarlung Zangbo are exposed to complex disaster risks, such as seismic activity and glacial and rock landslides. Chinese researchers have noted that intense shear movements and glacial/rockfalls could cause chain landslides and collapses downstream.

Following the recent earthquake, Chinese geological researchers recommended strengthening the dam and enhancing extreme environment construction risk assessment and comprehensive monitoring and warning systems. On the 29th, the Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Wang, had a conversation with Nepal's foreign minister, Karma, and said that China would share disaster region videos, satellite and groundwater data, and upstream dam warning information with Nepal every 10 minutes.

Nepal had requested China to share information on glacial movement, river water level, and landslide risks after the flash flood.