Dam to force millions more to be moved

China is to relocate at least 4 million more people from the Three Gorges Dam reservoir area in the next 10 to 15 years to protect its “ecological safety,” the New China News Agency said.

The $25-billion dam near Chongqing, in southwest China, is the world’s largest hydroelectricity project, but even senior officials who have defended it as an engineering wonder now warn that areas around the dam are paying a heavy environmental cost.

They cite erosion and landslides on steep hills around the dam, conflicts over land shortages and “ecological deterioration caused by irrational development.”