A US$483-million project to prevent geological disasters at the
Three Gorges Reservoir is more than 70 per cent complete and will
be finished by June 1, when the dam begins to fill.
Tian Fengshan, minister of land and resources, said on Saturday at
a national meeting that the project would guarantee the safety of
the dam and nearby residents.
His vice-minister Shou Jiahua said geological risk assessments had
been completed in 19 of the 20 counties due to be submerged,
covering more than 6,200 sites.
Geological disasters such as landslides are frequent in the Three
Gorges reservoir area.
Since 1982, more than 70 have occurred in the region, killing more
than 400 people.
The Three Gorges Reservoir is expected to fill from June 1.
By
June 15, water levels will rise to 135 metres. By 2009, they will
reach 175 metres when the gigantic project will be complete.
According to Shou, the rise in water levels could erode or
destabilize soil and rock in the area.
The disaster prevention scheme, which began in June 2001, aims to
expose and remedy these problems in advance.
"Geological disasters cannot be totally avoided in the region, but
we have prepared thoroughly to minimize damage from any possible
disasters," said Shou.
Assessing and monitoring geological hazards in the Three Gorges Dam
region is the ministry's top disaster prevention priority this
year.
Shou called for more work to be done to identify potential
landsides or other dangers before the dam fills.
The colossal Three Gorges project will start generating power in
August. Four power plants, capable of delivering a total of 5.5
billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, will come on line this
year.
The massive scheme in the western part of Yichang
in Central China's Hubei Province consists of a 2,309-metre-long,
185-metre-tall dam, and 26 generating units with a combined
capacity of 18.2 million kilowatts.
Upon completion in 2009, the project will be able to generate 84.7
billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
(China Daily April 7, 2003)