The Comprehensive Planning for the Geological Hazards and Mitigation Projects of Landslides and Collapses in the Three Gorges Reservoir Engineering Areas has just been approved by the State Council, announced the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources (LRM) in Beijing Wednesday.

The 10-year planning will be implemented to meet the two damming deadlines of the world's largest reservoir respectively in 2003 and 2009.

The nearest target of the plan requires emergent works to treat all unstable sites along the embankments of the dam area which will be submerged under 135 meters of water in the first reservoir damming, scheduled for June 2003.

China appropriated 4 billion yuan last year from the special fund for the construction of the Three Gorges Project to finance the hazard mitigation projects. Prior to this, a 600 million yuan fund had been in place for the same purpose.

The ministry's geological survey has discovered more than 2,490 slide masses and 90 mud-rock flow claughes in the dam area.

"The total hazardous landslide deposits at the Three Gorges are estimated at 3 billion cubic meters. They will be brought under control with the implementation of the planning," said Li Lierong, director of the Geological Environment Department with LRM.

He said that the ecosystem in the dam area is fragile, with a loose soil texture and frequent occurrence of floods and rainstorms. The reservoir damming may cause large-scale landslides if hidden geological hazards are not taken care of in advance.

According to official figures, over 70 occurrences of landslides, collapses and mud-rock flows along the reservoir banks have been reported since 1982, which took some 400 lives and brought heavy economic losses.

Shou Jiahua, vice minister of land and resources, said that landslides and collapses are sporadic accidents, which need an effective monitoring system to send out early alarms.

She said that China is relying on both professional geological hazard monitoring technology and public reporting networks in the geological hazard control.

China has introduced advanced geo-monitoring technology for the hydro-power project since the 1980s, including GPS network and remote-sensing technology. The LRM has switched on a geological monitoring and alarm network covering 19 counties in the reservoir area which has been operating since 1999.

A special command office for the Three Gorges hazard control has been set up, which gathers officials with LRM, the State Development Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee with the State Council.

(China Daily February 7, 2002)