Alexis Hooi

Taming the building beast within

By Alexis Hooi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-26 07:42

The diversion project is the largest of its kind and includes three routes that aim to channel 44.8 billion cubic meters of water every year from the Yangtze River to the northern areas, which officials say have 19 percent of the country's water resources but account for 64 percent of its cultivated land. The central route of the project alone requires the resettlement of 330,000 people in Henan and Hubei provinces.

To be sure, the dam and water diversion projects are bold in their aim of vastly improving the lives of the people and contributing significantly to the country's development.

But it can be hard to similarly justify the cost of local building projects like the bridge I recently saw. Construction trucks rumbled through the area on temporary dirt tracks, while sections of the verdant slopes were stripped bare to make way for concrete and equipment.

The scene serves as a reminder that authorities at all levels must weigh the benefits of infrastructure development against the considerable environmental costs for the country's dwindling pockets of nature.

Any effort to preserve selected pristine areas and the country's natural heritage from the onslaught of modernity for future generations must also involve a change in mindset on the ground - that building is not always better.

alexishooi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/26/2010 page5)