The natural disaster early warning system has saved thousands of
lives and prevented huge economic losses in the upper reaches of
the Yangtze River, according to the Yangtze River Water Resources
Committee on Wednesday.
By the end of 2005, the early warning system had given alarms
for 244 landslides and mud-rock flows, leading to the translocation
of 38,300 people and preventing economic losses estimated at 243
million yuan (US$30.3 million), sources with the committee
said.
The complicated geological and climatic conditions of the upper
reaches of the Yangtze River, China's longest, mean that geological
disasters, such as landslides and mud-rock flows, are a frequent
occurrence. This has resulted in injuries and deaths to hundreds of
people as well as huge economic losses every year.
Human activities such as deforestation or improper mining and
construction also caused landslides and mud-rock flows.
The Yangtze River Water Resources Committee started the
construction of the early warning system in 1991. The system
currently monitors an area of 113,400 sq km and safeguards 300,000
residents along the river.
In 2005 alone, the early warning system helped to defuse
dangerous conditions in 17 places and translocate 1,614 people,
preventing economic losses of 11 million yuan (U$1.4 million).
(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2006)
