| |
MIANYANG: China on Saturday made final preparations to drain a dangerous "quake lake" in an audacious attempt to avert a disaster that could flood the homes of over a million people.
Authorities started to helicopter workers away from a dam created by quake-induced landslides that blocked a river, creating the swelling lake, after hundreds of soldiers finished digging an enormous drainage channel.
Water trapped in the lake could start flowing out through the channel as soon as Sunday, an official at relief headquarters in Mianyang City near the lake, who would only give his name as Pu, told AFP on Saturday.
Around 350 soldiers were flown out of the lake zone in Tangjiashan, and by midday on Sunday, 300 more would leave, China's central television reported, as it broadcast images of digging equipment being helicoptered out.
More than 197,000 people had been evacuated in case of flooding, Pu told AFP, but there was still concern for people living downstream.
"About 1.3 million people are prepared for evacuation. If the water drainage goes as planned peacefully, they won't have to evacuate," he said.
Residents said people had been ordered to move at least 30 metres above the level of the river as a precautionary measure.
Despite the warnings, tents where residents have been sleeping since the quake remained in place along the banks of the Fujiang river in Mianyang city, the largest population centre below the Tangjiashan quake lake.
"So far we have received no orders to remove the tents," a policeman told AFP. "If the order comes to move them, then we will."
The local government cancelled an emergency evacuation drill scheduled for Saturday, while China's central television said earlier plans to use explosives to breach the lake had been abandoned.
A police commander working at the quake lake had earlier told AFP that the dam could be breached on Saturday, but Pu said the operation would begin either on Sunday or early next week.
Officials appeared confident their efforts would eliminate the risk of a disastrous flood.
"The lake problem is under control, we do not have any fears that there will be an uncontrollable flood," Han Guijun, a top official in quake-devastated Beichuan county, told AFP.
Dealing with the "quake lake" has become one of the most pressing issues in the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake that killed more than 68,900 people, with nearly 18,000 still missing.
There were also 33 other lakes in Sichuan province created by the earthquake, 28 of which were at risk of bursting, the official Xinhua news agency reported earlier.
In a rare piece of good news amid the devastation, Xinhua reported two people had been discovered in the remote hamlet of Qingping, 20 days after the earthquake struck.
They had been given food and water, Xinhua said, without giving further details.
Meanwhile, the State Council has urged coal-producing provinces to step up output, saying some quake-hit areas were experiencing shortages, Xinhua said on Sunday, citing an emergency circular from the body.
China's coal industry has been under stress due to coal shortages this year, a situation worsened by the quake, which damaged a "considerable" number of hydropower stations, Xinhua said.
Though there were shortages in some areas of coal, oil, electricity and agricultural goods, the supply was generally sufficient, the circular said.
The State Council has also ordered local authorities to conduct safety appraisals of school buildings still standing in the affected area, Xinhua said.
Damaged buildings - schools in particular - that were still standing presented another risk to youth after thousands of children were killed when their classrooms were destroyed by the quake.
In Jinshansi village in quake-hit Shaanxi Province on Saturday, President Hu Jintao visited children studying in makeshift classrooms, Xinhua reported.
"Today you have to study in the tent. But I promise you to help you build a new school," he said. - AFP/de
|
