Heavy polluting industries follow hard on the heels of a dam-building frenzy
Mainland experts have warned authorities to learn the lessons from the overdevelopment of hydroelectric power in the southwest, where pollution and environmental damage have been spawned by feverish dam building.
Although touted as clean energy, the harnessing of hydroelectric power has brought unexpected environmental havoc to Panzhihua , in Sichuan , where the country's second largest dam - for the Ertan power station - was built.
With a capacity of 3,300MW, second only to the massive Three Gorges dam, the Ertan dam is downstream of the planned Jinping power plants on the Yalong River.
Residents of Panzhihua, an industrial latecomer established in 1965 and famed for its rich mineral reserves and water resources, have seen their once beautiful city lost to toxic pollution in the past decade.
Although the dam had been tipped to become an economic engine and help ease the country's chronic energy shortage, it had problems selling electricity when completed in 1999 because of oversupply.