2011-03-24 16:30

CHENGDU - Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, is building 35 emergency shelter areas that will be able to hold 1.1 million people in case of disasters.

The city has a population of over 10 million.

The new emergency shelter areas will be located in squares, parks, sports grounds, public green areas, schools and other public open spaces in downtown areas as well as the suburbs of Chengdu, said Liu Changming, a disaster relief official with the city's civil affairs bureau.

Each shelter area will be divided into separate zones allowing for tents, relief supplies and first-aid facilities, he said.

The shelter areas will also have water supplies, mobile toilets, emergency exits and parking spaces reserved for rescue vehicles.

Three of the shelters will also have emergency parking aprons, Liu said.

The city government's plan to build emergency shelter areas was initiated before the devastating earthquake shook Sichuan province in May 2008, Liu said. "The plan was improved in line with new national standards for emergency shelters issued after the quake."

Liu said the city government would spent 160 million yuan ($24.4 million) on the construction, which would be completed by the end of September.