Construction began Wednesday to open a tunnel through mountains to channel water from Zhangjiu River to Yunnan Province.
The tunnel is part of a 3.9-billion-yuan(US$471.76 million) urban water supply project, the largest in China, which will contribute 250 million cubic meters of water annually to Kunming, doubling the city's present water supply.
The project will include the building of a reservoir, a tap- water plant and pipe facilities. Preparations started in 1999 and construction is underway on a full scale with the start of the tunnel project.
The total length of the closed water conduction line will be 97. 72 km, and international bidding was resorted to.
The International Cooperation Bank of Japan has issued 1.4 billion yuan(US$169.35 million) in loans for the project.
The Zhangjiu River is a tributary to the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze.
(People's Daily November 29, 2001)
