People tap into a healthier life
Updated: 2012-05-02 07:53
By Wu Wencong (China Daily)
|
||||||||
Sichuan plans more hydro projects to aid expanding cities
When it is finished in 2015, the Xiangjiaba hydropower plant will be the third-largest in China, next only to the Three Gorges plant in Chongqing and Xiluodu in Sichuan, which is also under construction.
By the end of 2011, Sichuan had completed roughly 640,000 hydro projects. At least one large or medium-sized project has started every month since the beginning of 2010.
The Xiangjiaba hydropower plant, currently under construction. When completed in 2015, the facility will be the third-largest in China. [Liu Gang / for China Daily] |
In the next five years, 13 large and around 60 medium-sized projects will begin, with the aim of supplying all the water-deficient areas in the province.
Wen Ting, deputy head of the education center of the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Environmental Protection, said many people believe that the province has an abundance of water resources, but many cities and counties suffer from seasonal shortages and pollution.
Take Neijiang as an example. Situated in the middle of the province, this large city gets its water from the Tuojiang River, which runs through it. "In the dry season, cities on the upper reaches of the river often store water in reservoirs, so the amount left for Neijiang is negligible," said Wen.
In March 2004, the Tuojiang River was severely contaminated after an accident at a chemical factory in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. The contamination left millions of residents in cities downstream of Chengdu, Neijiang among them, without safe tap water for almost three weeks.
"There are so many cities and chemical plants along the river. That poses a potential safety hazard to the people of Neijiang," said Zeng Wanming, secretary of the Neijiang municipal Party committee. "The only solution to this problem is the irrigation project at Xiangjiaba, which will transfer water from the Jinsha River to Neijiang."
"The urbanization and industrialization of cities is not preventable," said Wen from the provincial environmental protection bureau. Many major cities in the province are planning to expand their populations by least 1 million, but those plans have been severely hampered by a lack of drinking water.
A planned irrigation project involving the Xiangjiaba plant is currently awaiting approval from the central government, and it's estimated that at least 5 million people in the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan will benefit if it gets the green light.
- Relief reaches isolated village
- Rainfall poses new threats to quake-hit region
- Funerals begin for Boston bombing victims
- Quake takeaway from China's Air Force
- Obama celebrates young inventors at science fair
- Earth Day marked around the world
- Volunteer team helping students find sense of normalcy
- Ethnic groups quick to join rescue efforts
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Supplies pour into isolated villages |
All-out efforts to save lives |
American abroad |
Industry savior: Big boys' toys |
New commissioner
|
Liaoning: China's oceangoing giant |
Today's Top News
Health new priority for quake zone
Xi meets US top military officer
Japan's boats driven out of Diaoyu
China mulls online shopping legislation
Bird flu death toll rises to 22
Putin appoints new ambassador to China
Japanese ships blocked from Diaoyu Islands
Inspired by Guan, more Chinese pick up golf
US Weekly
Beyond Yao
|
Money power |