New Three Gorges protection measures announced

Beijing is implementing new measures to deal with the adverse effects of the Three Gorges Dam, the Wall Street Journal reported. Under the new plan, resettled people will have guaranteed water supplies, rules against dumping into the river will be strictly enforced and an emergency response system will be created to deal with spills. The Three Gorges Project Committee of the State Council said the measures were created to limit the environmental fallout caused by the dam, supporting recent tacit and open official admissions that the government originally underestimated the environmental impact of building the dam. In September, officials said the dam could become an environmental "catastrophe" if appropriate action wasn't taken. The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project, has displaced 1.4 million people, and is expected to cause another 4 million to move. The government has spent US$1.6 billion on such measures so far.