The plan to dam the Nu River, the longest undammed river in Southeast Asia, is poised to move ahead in Yunnan province after final preparations began on Wednesday amid strong public opposition.
Dozens of enraged villagers, who were forced out to make way for the Liuku hydropower station a year ago but have yet to get full compensation for their farmland, were still protesting at the site yesterday - a third day after returning to their land, local sources said.
'About 50 villagers went to their farms early on Thursday morning, trying to stop bulldozers and tractors from clearing the sites,' said a source who did not want to be named. 'They are still there.'
China Huadian, the developer of the dam project, began preparations on farmland belonging to two families by emptying and unearthing an oil tank.
At least one of the 13 dams would be allowed to go ahead and work on the Liuku power station would start as early as June, government sources said.
But it remains unclear whether an attempt to break a four-year deadlock over the dam project, which has been shrouded in controversy and met fierce resistance from about 400 villagers in Xiaoshaba, Lushui county, received approval from Beijing.