Himalayan News Service

Dharamsala, January 22:

Large-scale mining in China’s western region will irreversibly damage the ecology of the Tibetan plateau, warns the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile.

A report released here by a Tibetan environment watchdog has expressed concern over increased mineral extraction in China’s western region by foreign companies keen to get a foothold in the dragon nation’s mining industry.

China is inviting foreign companies to prospect for gold and copper in its western region. China is also shifting its mineral industry to the western region under a plan officially billed as a campaign to reduce the widening chasm between China’s rich eastern coastal provinces and the western hinterlands. However, the indiscriminate mining in the region, which includes 2.5 million square km of Tibetan landmass, is taking a toll on the natural resource base of the region, says the report by the Environment and Development Desk of the Central Tibetan Administration.