(June 18, 2009) Several dams on China’s mighty Yellow River are close to collapse just a few years after they were built amid concerns that over 40 percent of the nation’s reservoirs are unsafe, state media has said.

Shoddy construction, unqualified workers and embezzlement of funds are threatening dams’ safety in the northwestern province of Gansu, the official China Daily said — a situation that could also put people in danger.

“Several dams on branches of the Yellow River in Gansu province are near collapse only one or two years after their construction,” the paper said.

Citing an investigation by the state-run China Youth Daily newspaper, the report pointed to one dam built in 2006 in Huan county on the Yellow River that has developed a dangerous breach in the middle.

Locals were quoted as saying that at least five newly built dams in the area were in very poor condition.

An official at the county’s water protection bureau, who refused to be named, told AFP the matter was being investigated by the government, but refused to provide any more details.

But the dire situation is not only limited to Gansu. More than 40 percent of reservoirs in China — or 37,000 — are in potential danger of being breached, according to the report.

Of these, about 3,640 dams are currently being reinforced, and another 7,600 are in need of immediate attention.

In the 10 years to 2008, a total of 59 dams were breached in China due to torrential rain and quality defects, the report said. It did not give a casualty figure for these incidents.

Environmentalists and rights groups have long warned of the negative impact of dams, citing ecological damage and the forced relocation of residents.

“Many of China’s dams were not built to safe standards and haven’t been properly maintained, and can be breached under heavy rainfall conditions,” Probe International Executive Director Patricia Adams subsequently told the Beijing-based website, Terra Eco, “This is very unsafe.”

AFP, June 18, 2009