Three Gorges Dam China: Is China Hiding something again?
Three Gorges Dam China : China is undergoing the toughest time. After Coronavirus, country is facing one of the worst floods in last 80 years. Since June, 38 million people have been evacuated due to flooding of 433 rivers nationwide. However, one of the biggest fear that grips China is the role of Three Gorges Dam. The Three Gorges Dam has been built and designed to tame River Yangtze. However, the water in the dam has been overflowing and there are reports that suggests water in the dam rose 6 feet above the warning level.
Since the rainy season started back in May, China has been accused of releasing flood water from Three Gorges Dam without notifying the villagers living downstream. Initially, China denied this claim but on June 29th, the Chinese authorities admitted that it had released floodwaters from the dam without notifying the villagers living downstream. Asia’s largest dam, Three Gorges Dam has been one of the most controversial dam.
Why China’s Three Gorges Dam has Been Controversial?
The work for the construction of Three Gorges Dam started in the year 1994. Despite protests by residents and environmentalists, the dam was completed in the year 2006. An area of around 600 Kms was submerged to create this dam and millions of people were displaced.
When the dam made first operations, the state media claimed that the dam could hold floods in 10,000 years. Later the claim was reduced to 1000 years and then to 100 years. In 2010, the state media published a report that said that people cannot rely completely on dam for flood controls.
The quality of material used in dam was always in question. In 1998 when one of the worst flood in China occurred the then Chinese Premier hired western experts to access the quality of Dam. The experts said that the steel bar wielding of the dam didn’t meet the standards. However, the Chinese workers and the ones responsible to built the dam were unhappy and referred the conclusion of western experts as racial discrimination.
Three Gorges Dam China : Why the Dam may Collapse?
The Three Gorges Dam built in Hubei province China over Yangtze river has always been controversial. In 2018 a satellite image was circulated online which showed that dam has been deformed. However, the Chinese authorities ridiculed the claim by considering it to be issue with satellite imaging. The state experts later confirmed that the dam had moved few millimetres but within a normal safety range.
As per China, the Three Gorges Dam is considered as the best to control the flooding that took place due to overflowing of Yangtze river. However, after weeks of devastating flood the Three Gorges Dam has been put in risk itself. Water in the dam have been overflowing and the flood gates have been opened to discharge the flood waters and release the pressure on the dam. If the dam collapse, lives of more than 400 million peoples will be put at risk. In no time more than 10 billion cubic meters of reservoir water will be released.
The Chinese state run media have been working overtime to run a propaganda that there is no issue with the dam. However, the media too claims the dams been overflowing since weeks. As China has always been know to keep the news hidden, it is expected that even this news of be kept hidden. But several satellited images and independent media suggests that after Coronavirus China specially the Wuhan Province where the Coronavirus originated is undergoing the worst flood in last few decades. The Three Gorges Dam China which was considered to protect them for 10000 years of worst flood is itself at the risk of collapse.
Till date in this year of floods, around 140 people have already died. Since the beginning of the month, about 1.8 million people in 24 provinces have had to evacuate. The economic loss is unprecedented.
Three Gorges Dam China : Is the Dam at Verge of Collapse?
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