The tens of thousands of residents in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, who've been without heat since Saturday, will likely have to shiver through temperatures of minus 10 Celsius for another three to five days.

A boiler owned by the Xinjiang Huadian Weihuliang Power Generation Co. Ltd., which provides heating to a large part of this city, stopped working at about 11 PM on Saturday, a company official said on Monday.

A build-up of dirt on the walls of the coal-fired boiler is being blamed for the break down. Du Wei, the company's Party chief said the dirt was more than 30 centimeters thick. It's "the first time (this has happened) in the company's 53 years of history," he said.

Burning low-quality, dirty coal caused the build-up on the walls of the boiler's furnace. The boiler is expected to be out of operation for another three to five days, said Du, adding that 80 workers were working around the clock in two shifts to clear away the dirt. 

The broken boiler means at least 10,000 households and organizations including hospitals, schools and a university are without heat. The stoppage has affected parts of the Shuimogou and Tianshan districts of Urumqi, which has a population of 2 million people. The broken boiler has affected the heating supply to 4 million square meters of floor space.

Daytime temperatures are averaging around minus seven with lows dipping to minus 11.

A saleswoman at an outlet of the Gome Electrical Appliances stores said that cheaper electric heaters had sold out while the more expensive models were selling well.

Mao Yong, a local resident, said she bought one of the last electric heaters in the store. "I feel cold and I stay around the electrical heater all day long," she said.

Things are getting worse for some affected residents. A number of the areas affected by the loss of heat have also had their power cut.

The local electricity authorities notified residents on Saturday that it had to cut power in some city areas from December 4-8 to upgrade the old power system.

"We never thought the upgrading project would coincide with the suspension of heating but some old equipment is dangerous and must be replaced," said Zhao Hongjun, deputy director of the Technology Department with the Urumqi Municipal Power Industry Bureau. The power is being cut area by area of the city and it has been out for no more than six hours at a time.

Asked why dirty coal had been used in the boiler Du said in a hapless voice that coal has been in short supply since the beginning of the year. The company's coal provider, the Shenhua Xinjiang Energy Co. Ltd, could only provide 80 percent of the coal the company required. "We had no choice we had to buy coal from smaller mines," he said.

According to Zhang Yun, chief engineer of the company, they are keeping a close watch on a second boiler. "If the other boiler stops working power and heating will be completely cut to the Shuimogou and Tianshan districts," he said.

Urumqi administers seven districts and one county and has a population of more than 2 million. The city provides central heating service to residents from October 14 to March 14.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2006)