Another from the China file. When I was there, the Three Gorges Dam was under construction. The water level in the river had already risen quite a lot but it was to rise even higher when the dam was completed. Cities, towns and villages along the banks had to be evacuated and in many cases demolished. I'm not sure what happened to this one.
In all, I have read, that 13 cities, 140 towns and 1352 villages were flooded.
@boatpainter I was there in 2005. At that point I think the Three Gorges Dam was almost complete but they hadn't yet let the water rise to its final level or completed all the turbines etc planned to produce electricity. It was,and stil is,a very controversial project.
Great shot of the buildings along the gorge. What was the purpose of the dam? Was it built for flood control or recreational? It makes you wonder if it was for flood control how many of those cities, towns and villages were regularly affected by floods?
@skipt07 There were a number of reasons for the dam. Flood control was one of the ones mentioned but also, and maybe more pressing, was the desire to harness the water to produce electricity and reduce the reliance on coal which was ( and still is) causing massive air pollution problems in China. (You may have read recent stories about the terrible quality of the air in Beijing and coal burning is one of the biggest contributors to that. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2084393/china-vows-fresh-smog-crackdown-toxic-air-shrouds). Also, the Yangtze serves as a transportation corridor for moving many things in the area and raising the river should make it more navigable. There were however a lot of problems associated with this dam, apart from the flooding of so many towns, villages etc. and now, 12 years after I was there, dispute still continues over the wiseness of this project.
