China is going ahead
with its plans to build the
Three Gorges dam billed as
the world's largest water-
control project on Yangtze
river, despite concerns raised
by environmentalists. They
have voiced fears about the
fate of millions of people
who would be displaced
forcibly. Besides, the dam
would destroy their cultural
and environmental assets.
There are also misgivings
about the safety of the dam.
Experts claim that silting of
the dam will reduce its effectiveness and possibly damage
important fishing grounds at
the mouth of the Yangtze by
cutting short their nitrogen
and phosphorus supply. The
Chinese government, however, stifles all criticism
through its mouthpiece,
Xinhua news agency. The
government will be spending
US $4.8 billion on the resettlement of the soon-to-be
displaced people. According
to Tang Dengquing, a senior
engineer with the ministry of
water resources who spent
almost 40 years of research
on the project, the dam will
reduce the pollution caused
by thermal power stations.
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