The Municipal Government of Chongqing will inject a fund of 44,480 million yuan in the coming ten years to improve the ecological conditions in the Three Gorges reservoir area.

Covering an area of 46,200 square meters, or 80 percent of the Three Gorges region, Chongqing reservoir area is now confronted with a serious pressure on ecological environment, namely a population of 17.79 million, three times that of the national average in term of density and lots of migrants requiring resettlement.

Four projects are included in the government plan to set a gag on the deterioration of ecological environment, namely, environmental protection, ecological environment construction, geologic disaster prevention and control as well as a system for environment monitoring and technological guarantee.

The environment project is to include 39 sewage treatment plants in cities, 30 small sewage treatment facilities in key towns in the reservoir area, 30 disposal grounds for city daily garbage, and 30 small garbage disposal facilities in key towns. Efforts will also be made for the treatment of 14 seriously polluted rivers, construction of eight projects for solid garbage treatment to reach an annual handling capacity of 600,000 tons.

The ecological environment projects include the protection of 35,78 million mu of natural forests, returning of 1.6 million cultivated lands on slopes to grass and forests, high-efficient ecological agriculture involving 800,000 green farmyards and 400,000 methane tanks, as well as 50 natural reserves covering a total area of 6,200 sq km.

More efforts will also be made on the comprehensive fathering of 715 geologic disasters in ten years, thereby harnessing the sections of the riverside cities with a total stretch of over 130 km along the Yangtze, Jialing and Wujiang Rivers.

（People’s Daily 01/03/2001）