Three Gorges Dam, May 2005, Leeza Arkhangelskaya
From MemoryArchive
Who: Leeza Arkhangelskaya What: Three Gorges Dam When: May 2005 Where: Yangtze River, China
In May 2005, I had the privilege to visit the largest, the most ambitious and most controversial project in the modern world: The construction of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China. Before I go into my own impressions, I would like to provide some background on this monumental project.
Why build this dam?
As I have learned, China has always dreamed of taming the power of the world’s third largest river, the Yangtze. The father of modern China, Sun Yat-sen, is credited with first proposing the idea of a hydroelectric dam at Three Gorges in 1919. In the mid-1950s, after a series of devastating floods along the Yangtze, Mao ordered feasibility studies on damming the river. Construction on the dam began in 1994 and is scheduled to end in 2009. At the initial phase of construction, President Jiang proclaimed “This great event proves that only socialism has the virtues to concentrate power to deal with this great project.” Hereby, the Chinese government (and many Chinese as well) visualize this project as a symbol of communist success and pride.
Upon the visit to the Three Gorges Dam museum, located on sight I found out about the benefits of the project. The Chinese government hopes that the dam will take care of several major national problems. The reservoir will allow 10,000-ton ocean-going freighters to sail directly into the interior of China for six months of each year. Hereby, making the region booming with agricultural and manufactured products accessible. Cheap river transportation is expected to provide the area with healthy international investment, thus making Chongqing a major business center. Furthermore, the dam’s hydropower is expected to create as much electricity as 18 nuclear power plants, supplying 10 percent of China’s electricity. Considering that China burns 50 million tons of coal each year for energy, Chinese officials argue that the environmental benefits will outweigh the environmental damage.
Additionally, the dam should be able to tame the fabled Yangtze River. The Yangtze’s notorious floods have been recorded for centuries and have been responsible for the death of over 1 million people in the past 100 years.
Scope of the Project
From start to finish, the project will cost up to $29 billion. The project includes a system of locks, the largest ever built, intended to bring ocean-going ships 1,500 miles inland to Chongqing, the capital of the Sichuan Province. Chongqing is an enormous city, with more than 30 million people, and is viewed as the second capital of China. The dam will be one and a half miles wide and more than 600 feet high that will create a reservoir hundreds of feet deep and nearly 400 miles long. The Three Gorges Reservoir will flood 632 square kilometers (395 square miles) of land. An estimated 250,000 workers are currently involved in the project.
The price of progress
However, I also saw first hand that when the towering 1.2-mile wide wall is complete, in 2009, it will signify the end to much of the area’s historical and scenic landscapes. The result will be a 370-mile-long lake that will consume 19 counties, 153 towns, 4,500 villages, and the scenic canyons through which I have had the rare privilege to sail this summer. As our tourist boat floated down the Yellow River for hours, I was ceaselessly overwhelmed by the grandeur and beauty of the gorges. To my left and my right I was engulfed by vertical mountain faces, which would transition into rolling green hills. I saw old villages, and even single houses built into the mountain. The people there live completely cut off from civilization, with miles of steep mountain between them and other villages, and yellow water below. Our tour guide told us that many of these people will have to be relocated very soon. All along the mountain faces there were bright black and white painted numbers. They were high above our heads and marked the level to which the water will rise once the dam is completed. These numbers, many times were above old bridges, villages and mountain tops. It was hard for me to imagine that in four years all this would be under water.
The people from the villages have no say in their relocation, but the Communist government claims that the successful relocation of these people is one of its top priorities. Our guide emphasized that as communists, many Chinese believe that individual sacrifices must be made in the name of progress of their great country. I respect and emphasize this outlook, since me and my family lived under communism as well. During the Soviet years the incredibly optimistic outlook prevailed, that sacrifice will bring a better tomorrow for everyone. In my own Russia, this hope gave people a purpose in life, which many have lost since the fall of the USSR. Westerners are obviously concerned with human rights of the people about to be relocated. I understand this viewpoint as well. However, for mostly rural and poor countries like China, giant leaps must be made, which are inevitably linked to giant sacrifices. However, such is the price of economic progress…
It is unfortunate, of course that much of China’s history will be submerged under water. Archaeologists and historians have estimated nearly 1,300 important sites will disappear under the reservoir’s waters. Most irreplaceable, according to some experts, are sites that are remnants of the homeland of the Ba, an ancient people who settled in the region about 4,000 years ago. I myself saw some of these remnants as we sailed down the river. High above our heads, cut into the vertical mountain face there are small man made caves, considered an 8th wonder of the world. In these caves lie wooden coffins – the burial place of ancient nobles from 2500 years ago. The mystery lays in how these caves were made and how the coffins were transported there. There is no imaginable way to access these caves, not from above or below. Only one coffin was successfully lowered from the face of the mountain with the use of a helicopter, and inside it there was a perfectly preserved royal skeleton.
Concerns
Some concerns have surfaced about the dam itself. Allegations of corruption among officials involved with the project have raised fears of shoddy construction. Of further concern are claims the dam might become an environmental disaster. There have been little to no attempts made toward removing accumulations of toxic materials and other potential pollutants from industrial sites that will be inundated. Experts say such materials could leach into the reservoir, creating a health hazard. The relative lack of waste treatment plants in China also could mean run-off from communities around the dam would most likely go untreated directly into the reservoir and into the Yangtze.
For its part, the government is well aware of the problems and challenges posed by the Three Gorges project. Chinese leaders insist the damage to the environment will be minimal and the disruption to the lives of the 700,000 to 1.9 million people who are being forced to move will be small. My own opinion on whether this is right or wrong is not finalized... and iether way, the project will be completed in 3 years. Time will tell...
(some information gathered from CNN)
