Dam builders damn Beijing's command

Environment

Dam builders damn Beijing's command

Despite Premier Wen Jiabao's February directive that work on the dam projects stop to allow an assessment of their potential impact, preparatory work on the Chinese part of the Salween, known there as Nu, had been going around the clock, reported South China Morning Post, Wednesday 19 May.

A day earlier, laborers were seen paving a road near the town of Liuku, while 60 km upstream at Yabiluo, 10 surveyors were taking hydrological and geological measurements.

Both sites are included in the advanced plans of the state-owned Huadian Corporation, reputed as one of the big 5 power generation companies, for a cascade of up to 13 dams, according to Watershed, a publication by Bangkok-based environmental group, TERRA.

The Post quoted members of the Nujiang Community Party Committee as saying the work at both sites was within the parameters of the premier's order.

The project has been strongly opposed by environmentalist and rights groups both inside and outside China. The staunchest opposition outside the Middle Kingdom is from those in downstream countries, namely, Burma and Thailand, who had jointly presented a protest letter on 16 December.

Meanwhile, Yunnan Daily, 16 May, reported that 14th Hydropower Bureau had signed an agreement with Dali municipal government on exploring wind energy potential in Dali, known as the city of wind. If its wind power is exploited, the power shortage will be substantially alleviated, says the report.

The Nu-Salween has its birth-place in Tibet, known as the Roof of the World and Source of Rivers. The Chinese government attaches great importance to ecological improvement and environmental protection, declares one of Beijing's information sheet that was released in March 2003.