Construction workers building the pipeline. The photograph was taken in 2007. (AP)
It has emerged that China has transferred a whopping 10 billion cubic meters of water from its southern to northern areas. The massive water diversion project, which was underway since a few years, has benefitted some 53.1 million people in northern China, according to xinhuanet.com. Surging population, droughts and unprecedented manufacturing boost had created a huge water crisis in the area.
The water, pumped from the Yangtze River, has gone to Beijing, Tianjin and the provinces of Henan and Hebei along the middle route of the water diversion project. The middle route of the project carries water through canals and pipes from Danjiangkou reservoir in central China’s Hubei Province. It came into operation in late 2014. Providing 2.7 billion cubic meters of water in Beijing, the project has served around 11 million people. The project now serves 70 percent of Beijing’s water supply needs. Other areas like Tianjin, Henan and Hebei got 2.2 billion, 3.5 billion, 1.1 billion cubic meters of water respectively, as per xinhuanet.com
According to the Chinese officials, the move has played “an indispensable strategic role” in solving water shortages, improve water quality and ecology, build a resource-conserving society and prevent natural disasters.
