Sacred mountain for
Tibetans to be mined in Driru, one detained
March 21, 2018 Tenzin Dharpo
Phayul.com
DHARAMSHALA, Mar. 21: A
mountain considered sacred by Tibetans in Driru (in Chinese, Biru)
county in the Nagchu prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region is
set to be mined by Chinese authorities despite resistance by local
Tibetans. A Tibetan man is reportedly detained after he refused to
sign an approval for the mining.
Late last month, villagers
were forced to sign approval for the mining by Chinese authorities,
the village head man refused for the same. “Karma, the head of
Markor village, said that he would sign his name only if the local
Chinese officials produced a letter from two Tibetan higher-ups
named Radi and Tenzin showing their own approval for the work, and
he was detained by the police,” a source cited by Radio Free Asia
said on the condition of anonymity.
Excavation works for the
area began by the end of last year with roads being built in the
foothills and red flags set as markers in the sacred mountain for
Tibetans known as Sertra Dzagen.
“Locals believe that mining
activities on this sacred mountain may lead to the extinction of
animal species such as wild sheep, antelope, and elk, and could
possibly trigger landslides on nearby Drakkar mountain, located
just to the left of Sertra Dzagen,” the same source
said.
Economists have estimated
that Tibet’s gold and copper deposits alone are worth one trillion
dollars to China. The resources are extracted relentlessly over the
past few decades with little or no regard to the environmental
consequences. In occupied Tibet, areas which are mined have
experienced polluted water bodies, unseasonal weather patterns and
an upsurge in natural calamities which has far reaching affects to
the global climate change.