Dam project to start amid controversy
Work will begin on the mainland's second-biggest dam this month, despite a controversy over building it in a national fish-conservation area and the eviction of thousands of residents.
The Xiluodu hydroelectric power plant on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, known locally as the Jinsha River, will be on the border between Sichuan and Yunnan. It will cost an estimated 73 billion yuan and has a planned capacity of 12,600MW, according to state media.
The development is owned by the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project.
'The project is aimed at meeting the power demands of the eastern and central regions,' Xinhua reported yesterday.
The deputy chair of the National Development and Reform Commission, Zhang Guobao, the country's top energy official, said recently the Xiluodu dam was expected to play an important role in easing an acute energy shortage.
'The conditions for the construction of the dam have been basically ripe. State Council leaders hope that work on at least one of the Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba dams can be started this year,' Mr Zhang said late last month.
Planned downstream of Xiluodu, the Xiangjiaba dam will be smaller but will affect more people.
Official statistics for the Xiluodu project show that nearly 60,000 people in Yunnan and Sichuan will have to be evicted, including 7,500 living within the construction area.
Like almost all hydropower projects across the mainland, the Xiluodu dam has met strong opposition from residents, despite the positive predictions by officials on the economic advantages the project will have.
One local environmentalist said: 'There have been reports of forced evictions. Local authorities failed to handle the relocation of thousands of residents well, as local police used force and some residents even petitioned the central government in Beijing.'
Mainland environmentalists and experts have said it was regrettable the dam was approved before environmental and other concerns were fully addressed.
The Xiluodu dam came to public attention early this year when citizens applauded a decision by the country's top environmental watchdog to halt preparation work on the grounds that a mandatory green-impact assessment report had yet to be approved.
But little has been said since then. According to the Three Gorges firm, the State Environmental Protection Administration quietly approved the project in April despite strong environemental concerns.
'It was a pity construction of the dam was allowed to resume so soon,' said environmentalist Ma Jun .
'It showed how powerful the backing of the projects is.'
A national conservation area of endangered river species, established in 1996, has to make way for the dam.
'The conservation, which boasted of over 60 kinds of extremely rare species, such as Chinese paddlefish, has been moved to downstream areas,' said Ni Zhaohui , a researcher on aquatic life in the Yangtze.
This relocation, which has also reduced the size of the conservation area, could have a serious impact on local biodiversity.
'Supporters of the project have doubted the effectiveness of the conservation, citing that not many endangered fish had been found over the past years. This is totally invalid,' Mr Ma said.
'It cannot be justified to build a dam which may deal a fatal blow to species that are in danger of extinction due to overfishing and pollution.'
Sichuan geologist Fan Xiao noted the dam was to be located on an earthquake belt, which had recorded strong quakes measuring greater than seven on the Richter scale.
