Dams near China's Yellow River fragile: media

Reuters 19 Jun 09;

BEIJING (Reuters) - Several dams on tributaries of China's Yellow River are near collapse shortly after being built, highlighting risks that parts of China's hastily built infrastructure may not be safe, media reported on Friday.

At least five newly built dams in Huan county, in Gansu province in arid northeast China, are "in very fragile condition," the China Daily said, citing a report from the China Youth Daily.

Reports blamed improper construction and embezzlement of funds.

"As flood season approaches in July, August and September, China's dam safety is coming under heavy pressure," Chen Lei, Minister of Water Resources, was cited by the China Daily as saying.

Inspections show many dams are not in good condition, Chen added.

A devastating earthquake in Sichuan province last year, near a river clogged with dams, turned the spotlight on the risks posed by China's thousands of dams.

Improper construction procedures, shoddy materials and diversion of funds by government departments have all contributed to fragile dams, the newspaper added.

A total of 59 dams nationwide were breached between 1999 and 2008, 20 caused by quality defects and the remainder by torrential rains, Chen said.

One dam in Huan county, 80 metres long and 20 meters wide, developed a breach more than 10 meters wide just two years after it was constructed in 2006, it said.

"There are many construction problems," the China Youth Daily cited local villagers as saying, when asked why many dams collapsed one or two years after being built.

One of the worse dam accidents ever occurred in China's Henan province in 1975, when a collapse at one dam triggered a domino effect, drowning 26,000 people. Over 100,000 more may have died in the subsequent famine and epidemics.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Lucy Hornby)