MIANYANG, Sichuan, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The diversion
project to drain a dangerous lake in China's quake-hit Sichuan was completed at
10 p.m. on Saturday, a water resources official said.
By 10 p.m. Saturday, about 135,500 cubic meters of
mud and rocks have been removed from the Tangjiashan quake-formed lake, leaving
a 475-meter-long channel up to 10 meters wide on the giant blockage, said Liu
Ning, chief engineer of the Ministry of Water Resources and deputy director of
the diversion project.
The evacuees, mainly members of the
water and electricity section of the People's Armed Police Force, prepare
to board on the helicopter at the dam site of quake-induced Tangjiashan
Lake in southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 31, 2008. The first group
of 15 earthquake relief workers handling the Tangjiashan quake-formed lake
in China's Sichuan Province boarded a helicopter at 8:35 a.m. Saturday and
were evacuated from the dam site. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
The quake lake was formed when the May 12 earthquake
triggered landslides and blocked a river. The lake, which holds nearly 200
million cubic meters of water, threatened to burst through the loose blockage
and flood millions of people downstream.
The water level of the lake, which had been rising
about 1.6 meters daily, was seven meters from the lowest point of the blockage,
Liu said.
He added that the plan to blow off the blockage with
explosives has been abandoned, as the diversion channel has been completed on
time.
More than 10 tons of dynamite carried to the blockage
by soldiers trekking mountains have been earlier taken back, so was surplus fuel
and garbage, to avoid environmental pollution.
The major project of a sluice -- an
irregular cube designed to discharge flooded water -- from the Tangjiashan
Lake is completed at quake-induced Tangjiashan Lake in southwest China's
Sichuan Province, May 31, 2008. The first group of 15 earthquake relief
workers handling the Tangjiashan quake-formed lake in China's Sichuan
Province boarded a helicopter at 8:35 a.m. Saturday and were evacuated
from the dam site.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
It is expected that the rising water will run over
the blockage and continue its trip through the man-made canal. According to Liu,
this may happen between June 1-5.
More than 600 armed police have been working around
the clock over the last six days on the canal cut out on the blockage.
By Saturday night, more than 340 soldiers and
engineers have left Tangjiashan, officials said.
The first group of 15 workers, mainly soldiers of the
hydropower corps of the People's Armed Police Force, left in a helicopter at
8:35 a.m. Saturday, a Xinhua reporter at the site said.
They were taken to the Nanjiao Military Airport in
Mianyang City for rest, he said.
The remaining 300 people will stay through Saturday
night, and most of them would leave by Sunday noon, said Zhou Xiangjun, an armed
police officer. About 20 soldiers would stay at Tangjiashan to monitor the
situation, he said.
On Saturday, the soldiers left in helicopters and
some left on foot.
"We prefer the airlift if weather permits. If the
weather turns bad, we will walk out tomorrow morning," said Yue Xi, deputy chief
of hydropower corps.
It takes 40 minutes to reach the airport in Mianyang
and six to seven hours by foot. Evacuees have to cross two mountains if they
choose to walk out, he said.
A total of 197,477 people were evacuated to safe
ground as of 8a.m. Saturday in line with an emergency plan, an official with the
quake relief headquarters of Mianyang City said.
Tan Li, Communist Party chief of Mianyang and head of
Mianyang City Quake Control and Relief Headquarters, on Friday renewed an order
that 1.3 million people living downstream from Tangjiashan must be evacuated to
higher grounds demarcated by the government.
At 4 p.m. Thursday, Tan issued a No. 1 order
demanding that about 200,000 people living downstream from Tangjiashan in the
main urban districts of Mianyang should start evacuation by 8 a.m. Saturday. The
evacuation must be completed by 8 a.m. Sunday.
Two other plans require the relocation of 1.2 million
people if the half of the lake volume was released, or 1.3 million if the whole
landslide blockage is washed away.
On Saturday night, the downtown Mianyang city
appeared deserted, with shops shuttered and several streets cordoned off.
Sandbags were stacked at the doors of houses and buildings along the projected
flood path to prevent watering from getting in.
Residents who have not so far evacuated were put
through evacuation drills in the past week. They were informed that flood
warnings will be communicated through signal shots and sirens.
The 8.0-magnitude tremor, which has claimed 68,977
lives as of Saturday, left 34 quake lakes in its aftermath, of which 28 threaten
to burst.
Hu Yun, deputy director of the Sichuan provincial
water resources department, said the danger at the quake lakes would be defused
by June 10.
MIANYANG, Sichuan, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A total of 197,477 people were evacuated to safe ground as of 8 a.m. Saturday in line with an emergency plan, an official with the quake relief headquarters of Mianyang City in southwest China said.
The plan was drawn up for the contingency of one third of the volume of quake-formed Tangjiashan lake burst out. Full story
TANGJIASHAN, Sichuan, May 29 (Xinhua) -- More than 600 rescuers worked through heavy rain on Thursday to dig a diversion channel on one of the most dangerous lakes in China's quake-hit Sichuan Province. Full story
An aerial photo taken on May 28, 2008 shows a landslide near the Tangjiashan earthquake-induced lake near Beichuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province.(Xinhua/Li Gang) Photo Gallery>>>
MIANYANG, Sichuan, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Up to 1.3 million people in southwest China's Sichuan Province have been ordered to evacuate to higher grounds for fear of a major "quake lake" burst as a result of flooding and strong aftershocks.
Tan Li, Party Secretary of Mianyang City and chief of
Mianyang City Quake Control and Relief Headquarters, on Friday renewed an order
that 1.3 million people living downstream from Tangjiashan, a swelling
quake-induced lake, must evacuate to higher grounds demarcated by government
departments. Full story
BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Finance
said Wednesday that the government allocated 200 million yuan (28.6 million U.S.
dollars) from the central budget for Sichuan Province to deal with the swelling
lakes formed by this month's devastating earthquake.
Many such lakes are threatening to burst and flood
downstream areas. Full story
