Three Gorges Dam sees relocation of 300,000

Over 300,000 people living near the Three Gorges Dam will have to be relocated to "protect the environment and avoid geographic hazards," state media reported. Local officials put the total number of people who have been displaced by the world’s largest hydropower project at 1.138 million. A local government work report said officials have "basically" finished the first phase of resettling about 1.3 million people in Chongqing and Hubei province, without further explanation. Hu Jiahai, a Chongqing government official, said the latest relocation plan has been submitted to the State Council and that its budget "would be no less than the previous US$5.8 billion to compensate migrants druing the dam-building period."