It is yet another example of economic development overriding environmental concerns. Two State-owned hydropower companies are reported to have started work on dams on the Jinsha river in southwestern Sichuan before securing the environmental impact assessment (EIA).

The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) has refused to grant approval to these two construction projects and also other related hydropower projects along the same river. Since the two companies started work without waiting for the process of approval to be concluded, the MEP suspended the procedure for grant of approval to the two projects.

This is not the first time that hydropower projects have flouted the MEP's requirement for getting the EIA before commencing work.

The upgradation of the country's top environmental protection watchdog from a bureau to a ministry under the State Council does not seem to have added to its bite.

The fact that previous violations of environmental protection rules by hydropower projects did not affect construction projects has set an unhealthy precedent that encourages violations. In all likelihood work on the two projects may continue unhindered, with EIA compliance being treated as a formality at later stage.

If that is the case, we will be right in assuming that our environmental watchdogs are toothless. Few construction projects have been aborted because of their failure to have their environmental or ecological impact assessed in advance.

Often times, work on projects suspended for environmental reasons are allowed to resume because a lot of money has already been invested; and aborting the project by stopping construction would mean waste of huge capital.

In the circumstances, environmental watchdogs become hostage to the project promoters: The authority is forced to let the firms do whatever they can to reduce the damaging impact of their projects on the environment.

As far as hydropower projects are concerned, none of them has ever been stopped because of environmental concerns. It seems that firms involved in such projects take it for granted that hydropower is a clean energy; and, therefore, so is their construction of dams to harness river water for power generation.

However, that is far from being the case. Building dams along a river has proved to have a huge impact on the ecological system of the river and its surrounding environment. Such impact can be disastrous. It is arbitrary to claim that hydropower is a clean energy without taking steps to counteract the negative impact of dams.

In addition, it will be detrimental to China's sustainable development goals if any local government or even a State-owned firm can flout the authority of environmental protection watchdogs.

Not paying due attention to ecological concerns when launching projects is a violation of the country's environmental protection law. To let these firms get away with their violation is not merely disregard for the environment but also an affront to the sanctity of the rule of law.

We hope that the MEP's decision on those who violate the law will someday make a real difference to the country's sustainable development vision.

(China Daily June 16, 2009)