The mammoth flooding of Huaihe River this summer, the worst in 50 years, has not only drawn the attention of country's decision-makers, but has sparked ordinary people's enthusiasm to contribute ideas on how to harness the river.

Two People’s Liberation Army soldiers carry an old man to safety in Shouxian, East China’s Anhui Province on July 13, 2003. A main dam on the Bihe River -- a tributary of the Huaihe River -- cracked early in the morning July 13 besieging more than 31,000 people, most of whom have been evacuated. No deaths or injuries were reported. [newsphoto.com.cn]

A program on how to control the Huaihe River was recently released on Xinhuanet.com.cn, the country's leading news Website.

Yang Shuqing, the program writer, was born in Hunan Province and is a hydrological PhD holder in a Singapore-based university.

He explained his personal views on how to build hydrological projects on the river, how to reduce flooding when the river receives continuous rains and how to alleviate droughts if the river basins suffer high temperatures and little rainfall.

Yang also discussed the river's water pollution problems.

The program immediately sparked heated discussion on the Internet. More than 1,000 surfers left comments.

Some praised the program, some expressed their hopes to see a tamed Huaihe River, and some gave their ideas on how to supplement the program.

A Water Resources Department official in Anhui Province said some suggestions were very constructive.

Hu Lili, a university student whose hometown in the Jingshan flood-diversion area was inundated this summer, is preparing to write a dissertation on the topic of compensation for residents in flood diversion areas who had to give up their homes and farmland when floodwater was diverted.

The floods on the Huaihe River caused the inundation of nine flood diversion areas in an attempt to ensure the safety of the river's main embank-ments. Millions of local residents had to move out of the diversion areas, losing their houses and farmlands.

Huang Jiayuan, a farmer living in Pihe River valley, a branch of the Huaihe River, told Xinhua that he thought the Pihe River should become another focus in the future, because the river basins were hardest hit by floods this summer and governments had not made plans to harness this branch.

The China Youth Daily, one of China's leading newspapers, recently published an editorial urging that ordinary Chinese people's suggestions be utilized, because some people had a wealth of understanding of the local ecological system, geological situation and hydrological knowledge.

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