Project Will not Damage Yangtze's EcosystemsThe Three Gorges Project, the world's largest hydropower dam, will be environmentally friendly and will not destroy the ecological systems of the Yangtze River area, where the dam is being built, senior officials promised.One official made it clear that the project's over 300-kilometre-long reservoir "will never be turned into a huge cesspool as some foreigners have warned.'' Some people fear the project will harm the environment along the 6,300-kilometre-long Yang-tze, the world's third longest river, he said. Lu Youmei, general manager of the Three Gorges Yangtze Dam Project Development Corp, made these remarks at a Three Gorges Project workshop held last weekend in Beijing. In addition to the workshop, some 2,000 experts, of whom over half are from overseas, have gathered in Beijing for the 4-day 20th Congress of the International Commission on Large Dams, which was scheduled to open on September 19. Guo Shuyan, a leading official with the project's decision-making agency, Zhang Guangdou and Pan Jiazheng, professors and members of the China Academies of Sciences and Engineering, and Wang Jiazhu, vice-president of Lu's corporation, answered questions raised by foreign experts at the workshop. Lu and his fellow experts admitted there are some disadvantages in the construction design for the environment. However, he said: "China is able to mitigate the negative effects they may have." The government has already worked out rules to ensure that sewage is treated before it enters the river and to prohibit the build-up of rubbish along the banks of the river, Lu said. In addition to closing hundreds of polluting enterprises and factories along the Yangtze, China has also begun the planting of a massive forest belt on the upper reaches on the Yangtze, said Guo. To help improve the quality of the water and conserve the soil on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, the central government poured a record 720 million yuan (US$87 million) into the forest belt last year alone, Guo confirmed. The government is also intensifying the implementation of laws to ensure the proper protection of the cultural relics that will be covered by the waters of the reservoir. It is estimated that at least 1,200 key cultural relics and historic sites have been listed under the State protection plan. (www.chinadaily.com.cn) |
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