JINAN, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- China began digging a
tunnel on Friday beneath the Yellow River in eastern Shandong Province as part
of the massive south-to-north water diversion project.
The 7,870-meter tunnel would annually divert 442
million cubic meters of water from the Yangtze River to the northern banks of
the Yellow River, said Zhang Jirao, director of the South-North Water Diversion
Project Office of the State Council.
The tunneling was scheduled to be completed in three
years with an investment of 613 million yuan (92.1 million U.S. dollars).
Water shortage had become an obstacle to the
development of north China in recent years. The tunneling project, however, was
a key step in diverting more water to the region.
Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality would
directly benefit from the tunnel upon its completion, the official added.
In order to ensure success, an experimental tunnel
was constructed under the Yellow River, the country's second longest river, in
the 1980s. This provided references and data for the design and construction of
the tunnel.
In 2002, China approved the south-to-north water
diversion project that aimed to relieve severe water shortages in parched
northern areas.
The project will divert water from the Yangtze, the
country's longest river, to the thirsty northern areas of the country. Three
routes were planned -- eastern, middle and western.
Upon completion, about a dozen provinces,
municipalities and autonomous regions in north China including Beijing, Tianjin,
Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and
Shanxi, with a total population of about 300 million, would benefit.
Those areas produced one-third of the country's grain
output and GDP with about 20 percent of the country's average per capita water
resource.
The huge water diversion project, with a total cost
forecast at486 billion yuan, would have a far-reaching impact on the sustainable
development of the country, and benefit generation after generation, observers
said.
