[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

DAM-L Chinese dams dammed (BBC Online)

http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_301000/301509.stm

That's the hi- res graphics version.


here is the story for anyone who doesn't want to or can't see the
page or pics.


Tuesday, March 23, 1999 Published at 11:18 GMT 

World: Asia-Pacific

             Chinese dams damned 

             Last year's floods highlighted the need for secure dams 

             By Duncan Hewitt in Beijing 

             Thousands of Chinese dams have been described as
             "time bombs" by Chinese officials. 

             They said more than one-third of the country's estimated
             85,000 dams are defective and need urgent repairs. 

             Experts at the Ministry of Water Resources, quoted by
             the official China Daily newspaper, said the dams could
             cause fatal floods 

             They said some 33,000 dams were old and poorly built. 

             The newspaper said the ministry was hoping for approval
             from the central authorities for as much as $4bn to carry
             out the repairs, but said it would be difficult to raise the
             money quickly. 

             Quick fix solutions 

             Concern about the safety of China's dams was
             highlighted during last year's disastrous floods, when at
             least 3,000 people died. Many of China's estimated
             dams are used to control the flow of rivers. 

             The paper noted that many of the dams were built
             between the late 1950s and late 1950, the period of
             Maoist political movements, when it said technological
             criteria were often ignored in favour of quick results. 

             It said 3,200 dams had failed since China's communist
             revolution, one of the worst cases occurring in Henan
             Province in 1975 when two dams collapsed. 

             The paper said 20,000 people drowned, though human
             rights groups quoting internal Chinese reports have said
             the figure was far higher. 

             Risks not known 

             The experts warned that many local officials were not
             fully aware of the risks posed by sub-standard reservoirs.

             The article follows unusually direct criticisms in official
             media of China's largest dam project, the giant Three
             Gorges hydro-electric dam currently under construction
             on the Yangtze. 

             There have been reports of corruption connected to the
             project and one journal recently questioned the
             relocation of more than a million people to make way for
             the dam.