Yahoo News 21 Nov 07;
At the same time as the seven-point plan was revealed, the crisis of confidence in the world's largest hydropower scheme was underlined by a landslide on the banks of the reservoir behind it. Three workers are thought to have died as the landslide swept away a road and blocked a railway line being constructed beside it.
China will act to limit ecological damage from the Three Gorges Dam project amid growing alarm over the negative impact of the world's biggest hydroelectric facility, state media said Wednesday.
The announcement comes after Chinese experts warned recently of an environmental "catastrophe" from the massive project and the news last month that an additional four million people would need to be relocated.
The government would strengthen protection of water sources and guarantee water supplies for the 1.4 million people relocated by the project so far, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement from the Three Gorges Project Committee.
It would also launch plans for the sustainable use of the dam on the Yangtze River and improve the environment of the submerged areas, Xinhua said.
The state-run office also pledged to take measures to prevent dumping of pollutants in the Yangtze, improve bio-diversity, and set up environmental monitoring and response systems, the report said, without giving further details of the plans.
"We want to build a first-class hydropower facility... but we also aim for a good environment," Xinhua quoted the statement as saying.
The 22-billion-dollar project has long been touted by the government as a symbol of national strength and went ahead despite myriad warnings about its social and environmental impact.
Chinese experts warned in September the dam was a potential "catastrophe" and was creating environmental problems including landslides, soil erosion, deteriorating water quality, and threats to indigenous wildlife since beginning operations last year.
The head of the project committee, Wang Xiaofeng, said last week those problems were "less severe than predicted," a view echoed in the government statement issued Tuesday.
"No major geological disasters or related casualties have happened in the reservoir area since water level was raised to 156 metres (515 feet) last year," it said.
However, experts have said landslides, caused by the growing water pressure on the steep Yangtze shoreline, had created large landslides which in turn triggered huge waves.
China's Three Gorges Dam rescue plan
Richard Spencer, The Telegraph 21 Nov 07;
The Chinese government has promised an environmental rescue plan for the troubled Three Gorges Dam in the wake of controversy sparked by official admissions that it was heading for "catastrophe".
At the same time as the seven-point plan was revealed, the crisis of confidence in the world's largest hydropower scheme was underlined by a landslide on the banks of the reservoir behind it.
Three workers are thought to have died as the landslide swept away a road and blocked a railway line being constructed beside it.
The increased severity of landslides caused by water pressure from the reservoir on the fragile mountainsides which line it was one of the main threats identified by local officials at a conference held in September. They said the shore of the reservoir had collapsed in 91 places.
But since then, the committee in charge of the dam project has hit back, alleging that the admissions were "exaggerated by foreign media" and in a separate report saying the environmental problems were less serious than expected.
China Three Gorges Landslide Kills One, Two Missing
PlanetArk 22 Nov 07;
BEIJING - A landslide near China's huge Three Gorges Dam trapped four workers, killing one, state media reported, as officials announced efforts to counter environmental fallout from the controversial project.
The landslide hit on Tuesday morning in the central province of Hubei, beside a half-completed railway line near the 660-km (410-mile) dam reservoir, Xinhua news agency reported.
The workers were perched on scaffolding next to a tunnel in Badong County when buried by collapsing earth, the report said. One was killed, another injured and two remained missing.
The slide also severed a nearby highway and appeared to be the latest reminder of geological threats around the rising dam.
Badong is one of the hilly areas along the reservoir that locals recently told Reuters has seen more landslides and tremors since the water level reached 156 metres (512 feet) above sea level last year, increasing pressure on brittle slopes.
Construction of the dam began in 1994 following years of controversy over the plan, which environmental critics call a dangerous folly.
In September, dam officials warned of "environmental catastophe" unless erosion, pollution and geological instability around the reservoir were controlled -- an abrupt departure from bright propaganda about the world's biggest dam.
Since then they have repeatedly said those threats are being dealt with and the dam environment is better than expected.
But now the Three Gorges Project Committee has announced more measures to protect the dam environment, Xinhua reported late on Tuesday.
They vowed tougher controls on towns, villages and factories dumping pollution, and "emergency response" policies to tackle pollution outbreaks.
If all goes to plan, the dam will reach its maximum capacity of 39.3 billion cubic metres of water by the end of 2008. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)
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