One of the most controversial decisions that former Chongqing Communist Party chief Bo Xilai made during his four-year stay in the southwestern mega-city has been upheld, despite the princeling-politician's spectacular fall from grace.
Plans for the Xiaonanhai dam, widely seen as Bo's pet project, have emerged unscathed and made significant headway in recent weeks amid much-rumoured scrutiny of major projects in the city that were allowed to proceed under Bo's stewardship.
Although the plan to place a dam at the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has long been controversial due to concerns about its environmental impact, economic feasibility, the secretive decision-making process and Bo's heavy involvement, preparatory work for the project received the go-ahead late last month.
Environmentalists are very disappointed that years of efforts to stall the project - which they argue will wipe out several endangered fish species, including the Chinese sturgeon and Chinese paddlefish, and deal another irrevocable blow to the river's bio-diversity - proved futile.
Chongqing authorities managed to overcome all major obstacles to the dam's construction, mostly due to the personal intervention of Bo, a former Politburo member who's a son of a revolutionary elder.
Critics are most bitter about the silencing of leading mainland scientists who were previously allied with environmentalists in opposing the Xiaonanhai dam and the downsizing of a neighbouring national fishery reserve to make way for the project.