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Gov't in Shaanxi apologizes, again, for burst water pipes

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-19 17:14

A city government issued its second apology in a month on Thursday over burst pipes in a local water project that have affected more than 400,000 people.

Zhang Zongzhi, director of the urban construction administration of Baoji City in Shaanxi Province, said the government "sincerely apologizes for the latest pipe bursts" and promised to take action.

Water mains from a local reservoir burst 11 times over the past decade, three times this month alone, cutting off water to about 70 percent of the city's 600,000 urban residents.

Pang Jiayu, mayor and Communist Party chief of Baoji from 1997 to 1999, has been accused of allowing substandard pipes to be used. Pang was jailed for 12 years for corruption in June.

Water supply in Baoji resumed on Wednesday afternoon after more than 100 workers repaired pipes that burst on Tuesday.

There were three pipe bursts in 1998, the year the project was built. During one incident in 2005, water gushed to a height of 7 m.

Zhang said pipes in some sections will be replaced as soon as possible and construction of subsidiary routes will be expedited. In the meantime, experts are working on emergency water supply plans, he said.

Work to improve a 5.3-km section of the project, costing 30 million yuan (4.4 million U.S. dollars), will soon be finished, he said. The city plans to start another water supply project early next year, involving 830 million yuan.

Last week, Baoji Mayor Dai Zhengshe apologized to residents over the frequent pipe bursts "due to historical reasons."

The cost of the first 10 pipe bursts is estimated at 12.3 million yuan.