By Amar Chandel
Lhasa, July 25 – The glorious isolation of Tibet is set to diminish further with the first train expected to chug its way to the top of the world in 2006. Work on the 1000-km Qinghai-Lhasa railway line is going on at a feverish pitch and the track has already reached the Tibet plateau at Arduo in the Nagu prefecture. That is still 500 km away from the Tibetan capital but work is also on here to set up a railway station.
Most of the residents of the area have never seen a train and there is a lot of curiosity about this ‘novel’mode of transport. The train will link Tibet to the Qinghai province to its north to which there is already an all-weather highway.
Building a railway line in a place where the average altitude is 12,000-plus feet is an engineering marvel in itself. What makes the task all the more daunting is the fact that the job has to be done without harming the ecology.
Tibet is home to some of the largest urban wetlands in the country. In fact, the Lalu wetland nature reserve that we visited today is believed to be the largest urban wetland in the whole world. To make sure that the railways does not harm this 62,000 sq km reserve and other natural reserves, 100 km of the track will be over bridges so that yaks and other animals can roam freely underneath. The bridges cost 2.5 times more than the railway track and special provisions have been made for the facility.
Mr Xian Sun, Director of the Tibet Environment Protection Agency, says Tibet is the source of many of the mighty rivers of South-East Asia, including the Brahmaputra. In fact, it is a paradise of rivers and eco-systems, so much so that any changes here can have impact on the entire hemisphere. That is why it is essential to protect its ecology. The Central Government has earmarked 20 billion yuan (eight yuans equal $) for this purpose in the 2001-5 10th Five Year Plan.
Because of the concerted effort, humidity, temperature and oxygen content have improved greatly. Many animals spend their winters here. A sum of 130 million yuan has been set apart for this wetland alone.
In all there are 15 nature reserves in Tibet, which total 390 thousand sq km and comprise 33.9 per cent of the total area of Tibet.
Many other steps are also being taken for eco-conservation. These include a sewerage system, stopping of chimney smoke and establishment of ‘green corridors’ of trees planted in thousands.
