Government and Policy

'Risk map' will show nation's dangerous areas

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-24 10:02

LANZHOU - Authorities are drawing up a national "risk map" for natural disasters in an attempt to improve urban planning and avoid potential catastrophes.

"We've started many natural disaster risk evaluation projects in China since August," said Zou Ming, director of the disaster relief department at the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

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Zou said the exercise will be useful in the same way as the census that is under way because it will help decision-makers plan for the future.

The "risk map" will help city planners build cities and towns away from dangerous locations, such as places prone to earthquakes, floods and mudslides.

China's vast western regions have experienced three major natural disasters in three years. A magnitude 8 earthquake hit Wenchuan, Sichuan province, in May 2008. In April 2010, a magnitude 7.1 tremor jolted Yushu, Qinghai province. And devastating mudslides that claimed nearly 2,000 lives struck Zhouqu, Gansu province, in August.

Such disasters have made western China's city planners look for a "risk map" in a bid to avoid putting people in vulnerable locations.

Earlier this month, Sichuan province issued a circular requesting all cities and counties submit an evaluation report reviewing post-quake rebuilding projects. It made the call to ensure new homes and public facilities were safe and built away from areas prone to geological disasters.

"We'll re-study all reconstruction projects to double-check safety, so as to make sure they are located away from earthquake rupture belts and areas prone to floods and geological disasters," the document said.

The circular said the provincial government expects to readjust some rebuilding plans based on the evaluation.

The western regions have witnessed fast economic growth during the past decade and that has led to more people moving to its towns and cities, said Shi Peijun, deputy director of the National Committee of Disaster Relief.

But due to the fact that a "risk map" has not yet been drawn up, many people were unaware of the fact that they were living in areas prone to natural disasters, he said.

Taking Zhouqu as an example, Shi said the valley that houses it was prone to landslides and was not an appropriate place to locate 47,000 people. "Now, avoiding possible dangers is at the top of government agendas," Shi said.

Xinhua