China is to spend 43.9 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) to protect the
environment and cultural relics and prevent geological disasters in
the areas around the Three Gorges project.
Many concerns have been voiced regarding the protection of the
environment and cultural relics since the Three Gorges dam project
began, said Chi Wenjiang, deputy director of the Relocation and
Development Bureau of the Three Gorges Project Construction
Committee.
With the
State Council's approval, 39 billion yuan (US$4.7 billion) will
be invested to fundamentally improve water quality by curbing the
pollution of the Three Gorges reservoir and upper reaches of the
Yangtze River and by planting belts of trees along the middle and
the upper reaches of the river, Chi said.
About 700 million yuan (US$84 million) will be allocated for the
protection and removal of cultural relics above the ground, and the
excavation and exploration of underground ones. Another 4 billion
yuan (US$482 million) will be used for the inspection and
prevention of geological disasters to safeguard property, life and
public security in the reservoir area, the official said.
Chi said that construction of the key project and the relocation of
people from the area were proceeding well.
It
is estimated that the aggregate volume of investment in the Three
Gorges project will be kept below 180 billion yuan (US$22 billion).
Reports said that the migration problem was still a bottleneck on
the project's progress.
More than 800 industrial and mining enterprises have been moved
from the area. New districts have taken shape in Wanzhou and
Fuling, which will be partly submerged by the new reservoir. Two of
the 10 county seats in the area have been moved in their
entirety.
Chongqing, a municipality in the hinterland of the Three Gorges
area, will launch five programmes over the next two years to
control air pollution in its urban area.
According to Mayor Bao Xuding, the programmes include closing down
567 stone quarries in the urban area; banning diesel buses and
other heavily polluting vehicles from key zones; promoting the use
of low-sulphur coal; planting trees and grass; and reconstructing,
moving or shutting down 12 large heavily polluting enterprises in
the urban area.
(China
Daily January 7, 2002)