A report released Saturday stated that geological disasters are threatening the booming southern Chinese cities on the Pearl River Delta, a 40,000-square-kilometer area that contributes nearly 10 percent to the country's GDP.

 

Cracking ground, cave-ins, rock-mud flows and landslides are among the major disasters to plague these cities as their fast urbanization drive over recent decades has caused natural and environmental changes, said the report by Guangdong provincial land and resources department.

 

The provincial capital Guangzhou alone reported 33 geological disasters in the past decade. They caused a direct economic loss of 500 million yuan (US$62.5 million) at least, it said.

 

The loose, riverfront ground has sunk in the past 10 years in at least nine of the delta's 14 cities including Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Shenzhen. In the worst cases the ground was sinking by 20 centimeters a year.

 

"Unless measures are taken to solve the problem it could destroy buildings, roads and bridges," the report said. It blamed irrational human activities for worsening the situation such as the building of water gates, extraction of riverbed sand and excessive exploitation of ground water.

 

The Pearl River Delta, home to 23.65 million people, is one of the country's largest economic powerhouses. The area’s per capita GDP averaged 41,990 yuan (US$5,250) last year compared with the national average of 13,846 yuan (US$1,730).

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2006)