China's Three Gorges Dam Danger or Savior?

It is NOW Said That This Dam Is More Danger Than Power Supplier !!

Earthquakes and landslides

Erosion in the reservoir, induced by rising water, causes frequent major landslides that have led to noticeable disturbance in the reservoir surface, including two incidents in May 2009 when somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 cubic metres (26,000 and 65,000 cu yd) of material plunged into the flooded Wuxia Gorge of the Wu River.^[69] Also, in the first four months of 2010, there were 97 significant landslides

SHANGHAI -- Another 100,000 people may have to move away from China's Three Gorges Dam due to the risk of disastrous landslides and bank collapses around the reservoir of the world's biggest hydroelectric facility, state media said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Land Resources says the number of landslides and other disasters has increased 70 percent since the water level in the $23 billion showcase project rose to its maximum level in 2010.

Some 1.4 million people already have been resettled due to the huge project on the Yangtze River. Authorities may move another 100,000 people in the next three to five years to minimize the risk of casualties from such threats, Liu Yuan, a ministry official, told China National Radio in a report posted on a government website and carried by the Shanghai Daily newspaper.

He said that 5,386 danger sites were being monitored and that work was beginning on rockfalls and landslides at 335 locations around the lake.

Ministry officials refused to comment on Liu's remarks.

In a recent report, though, the ministry outlined many of the same concerns, including 196 geological "emergencies" in 2008-2009.

Fluctuations in water levels can trigger landslides and other problems, and the risks are accentuated by the density of the population in the area, it said.

About a year ago, China's Cabinet outlined a slew of urgent environmental, geologic and economic problems related to the dam, which has been the subject of intense debate for decades.

Many of the people obliged to move to make way for the Three Gorges Dam have struggled to regain their livelihoods and settle into new homes, that report said.