Translated by Tashi Namgyal
Edited by Yangchen Tso
China forced Tibetan families residing in Mardang village to relocate their homes with compensation to facilitate the construction of a new hydropower station at the highest altitude on the Machu River (Yellow River).
Over a hundred Tibetan households were forced to relocate to nearby towns and county seats to make way for a new hydroelectric plant on the Machu River’s reach near Mardang village, Ragyatownship, Golok, Tibet.
A reliable source told Tibet Times, “The Chinese government forcibly displaced over a hundred Tibetan households from Mardang village to Bathang county and Ragya township amid construction of Mardand hydroelectric power plant on the reach of Machu River. The involved families were compensated for relocation with a huge amount of money. The project of constructing a new dam was recently completed, and the water has not yet been released from the reservoir but is being diverted and preserved.”
The source added, “Because of this hydropower station, a ruin of Kagyu monastery dated back to the fourth Karmapa and a mountain of the deity known as Ama Ajam Lhamo have already been submerged under the water. The ancient forest of Ragya, the second Tibet, is also about to submerge the largest ancient forest in the Golok area.”
Another source said, “Usually, to cross the river in this area, we have to go through a bridge, but due to the construction of a new dam, the river
Flowing near the Mardang region has become smaller; recently, we can cross it on foot. If the dam gets damaged one day, there is a considerable risk that Jigu village and Ragya monastery near the reach of Machu River will be flooded.”
Before those few years, the Chinese government had implemented the dam project, but it had to stop since the workers still needed to receive the wages as promised. On 21 June 2021, the project was resumed. Mardang hydropower station is located at the Machu River’s highest altitude, and the plant’s power generation capacity is 550000 Kw.
