In news: China has built a key highway through Brahmaputra Gorge in Tibet near Arunachal.
More about the tunnel-
- The strategic highway including a 2km mountain tunnel is through the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon (Brahmaputra Canyon), known as the world’s deepest gorge.
- The 67.22-km road connects Pad Township in the city of Nyingchi and Medog County, cutting travel time by eight hours.
- Medog is the last county in Tibet, which is located close to the Arunachal Pradesh border.
- Its likely terminus is Baibung county (known as Drepung in Tibetan), close to the Indian village of Bishing in Arunachal Pradesh.
- The village of Bishing is located in Arunachal’s Gelling circle, which touches the McMahon Line, the de-facto Sino-India border in the region.
- It is the second significant passageway to Medog, following the first one connecting the county and Zhamog Township, Bomi County.
- The highway project was started in 2014, with an estimated investment of about USD 310 million.
- China has cleared a plan to build a mega-dam over the Canyon by the country’s Parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC).
- Engineers have expressed concern about the threats posed by landslides and barrier lakes to the dam.
- Across the border, India is also building a 150-km-long Yingkiong-Bushing national highway in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Source: The Hindu
