China's showcase hydro-engineering project, the Three Gorges Dam, could become an environmental catastrophe unless remedial action is taken, the state media reported yesterday.In an unusually blunt public assessment, officials warned that landslides and pollution were among the "hidden dangers" facing the world's biggest hydro-electric plant.
The alarmist reports, carried by the Xinhua news agency and the People's Daily website, were in stark contrast to the congratulatory tone of most previous domestic coverage of the project, which was planned for flood control along the Yangtze and for lessening China's dependence on power driven by coal.
When the last of 16m tonnes of concrete was poured into the vast barrier a year ago the project was hailed as a triumph of Chinese engineering. But the problems caused by the 1.4-mile long blockage are becoming increasingly clear. "There are many new and old hidden ecological and environmental dangers concerning the Three Gorges Dam," the Xinhua report quoted officials as saying. "If preventive measures are not taken the project could lead to a catastrophe."
| Not to mention what would happen if it was hit by a few Taiwanese missiles. |
According to Xinhua, the rising volume of water in the reservoir behind the dam has eroded river banks along 91 stretches of the Yangtze, triggering landslides. The sudden collapses of tranches of soil into the water has created waves that have been up to 50 metres (164ft) high, the agency said. "Regular geological disasters are a severe threat to the lives of residents around the dam," Huang Xuebin, an engineer, told a meeting of officials.
In recent years the government has closed or moved 1,500 factories, built more than 70 waste treatment plants and spent 12 billion yuan (about £800m) on efforts to stabilise the transformed geology of the area. But the latest reports suggest these steps are insufficient.
The Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, raised these issues in the state council this year. His senior advisers have warned that the problems are as yet far from solved.
"We cannot lower our guard against ecological and environmental problems caused by the Three Gorges project," Wang Xiaofeng, director in charge of building the dam, was quoted as saying. "We cannot win by achieving economic prosperity at the cost of the environment."