• China has completed the construction of a strategic highway through the Brahmaputra Canyon, close to the Arunachal Pradesh border, ahead of its plan to build a mega-dam over the gorge.

• Construction of the highway costing $310 million passing through the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, known as the world's deepest gorge with a maximum depth of 6,009 meters, was completed last week, said a news report.

• The mighty Brahmaputra river is known as Yarlung Zangbo in Tibet.

• A 2,114-meter tunnel was dug through, marking the completion of the major construction of the 67.22-km road connecting 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.

• China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, which is firmly rejected by India. The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). 

• The new highway was built on the former hiking route between Nyingchi's Pad Township and Baibung Township, Medog County, with an altitude difference of up to 2,892 meters between the highest and lowest spots of the road.

• It is the second significant passageway to Medog, following the first one connecting the county and Zhamog Township, Bomi County. 

• After the new highway opens to traffic, the road length connecting the city proper of Nyingchi and Medog County will be shortened to 180 kms from 346 kms, cutting travel time by eight hours.

• The highway project was started in 2014, with an estimated investment of over 2 billion yuan (about $310 million).

• China has already cleared a plan to build a mega-dam over Brahmaputra Canyon by the country’s Parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC) in March this year, sparking concerns in India.

• A recent report said engineers have also expressed concern about the threats posed by landslides and barrier lakes to the dam.

Key facts on Brahmaputra river: 

• The Brahmaputra is the longest river in Tibet and its valley is the world’s deepest with a 7,000-metre drop from the highest mountain peak to the lowest basin. 

• The Brahmaputra basin spreads over countries of Tibet (China), Bhutan, India and Bangladesh having a total area of 5,80,000 sq km. 

• In India, it spreads over states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim and which is nearly 5.9 per cent of the total geographical area of the country. 

• It is bounded by the Himalayas on the north, by the Patkari range of hills on the east running along the India-Myanmar border, by the Assam range of hills on the south and by the Himalayas and the ridge separating it from Ganga basin on the west. 

• The Brahmaputra River originates in the north from Kailash ranges of Himalayas at an elevation of 5,150 m just south of the lake called Konggyu Tsho and flows for about a total length of 2,900 km. In India, it flows for 916 km. 

• The principal tributaries of the river joining from right are the Lohit, the Dibang, the Subansiri, the Jiabharali, the Dhansiri, the Manas, the Torsa, the Sankosh and the Teesta whereas the Burhi Dihing, the Desang, the Dikhow, the Dhansiri and the Kopili joins it from left.

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