Rains hamper work on lake sluice

CHENGDU: Rain grounded helicopters and hampered attempts yesterday to drain a quake lake threatening to burst its banks and cause floods.

Tangjiashan lake near Beichuan was formed when a landslide triggered by the magnitude 8.0 quake on May 12 blocked Jianjiang River. The lake has been rising by up to 2 m a day.

In the past three days of round-the-clock work, troops have dug a 50-m-wide channel running 300 m long, CCTV said. The sluice was expected to be ready on June 5, experts have said.