A director of China's massive water diversion scheme said Tuesday more than 400,000 people will have to be relocated for the project, state media reported.
Zhang Jiyao, office director of the South-North Water Diversion Project Construction Committee, made the announcement in Beijing during a meeting on land requisition and relocation for the billion-dollar project.
Xinhua quote Zhang as saying, "The task is arduous and urgent." China's northern provinces, including cities like the major port of Tianjin and the capital Beijing, confront chronic water shortages fast approaching critical levels.
Zhang disclosed that the project, which requires massive channel building to shift river water resources from southern to northern China, will cover 100 counties in seven provinces and municipalities, requiring the relocation of an estimated 400,000 people.
The initiative, comparable in scale to the Grand Canal completed by Kublai Khan in 1293, is under the direct control of the State Council, China's Cabinet.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
