Powerline concerns to be aired in hearing
By Qin Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-08-11 02:26

The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau will hold a public hearing on Friday to solicit public imput on high-tension wires built near the Summer Palace and claimed to cause environment damages.

Sources with the bureau said local residents, construction teams and experts will attend the hearing.

After soliciting opinions from people representing all walks of life, the bureau will work out a solution on the issue.

According to the Beijing-based China Times, dozens of iron towers transporting high-tension electricity have surrounded the northern and northwestern parts of the Summer Palace, which is a well known tourist attraction in Beijing.

"I have been living here for nearly 20 years. Since the towers were built, the beauty of the Summer Palace has diminished," a nearby resident told China Times.

The construction projects, starting in February, turned out to be an illegal one that has not been approved by environmental authorities, said the China Times report.

Several of the towers are in or nearby the the Baiwangjiayuan community and high-tension wires are strung above residential buildings.

A piece of land to the west of the community was set aside as a grassland, but now two iron towers are preventing people from going there, Chen Haipeng, a resident in the community, told China Times.

Many local residents have expressed concern about the health of their children, as a kindergarten is being built close to the towers.

Experts say children that live within 200 metres of high-tension wires are 30 per cent more likely to develop leukaemia than those who are not regularly exposed to electromagnetism.

"If they continue to build the wires, we have to consider moving out of the community," said a resident Wang, who has a half-year-old baby.

To build high-tension wires carrying 220,000 volts that are so close to residential areas and major scenery spots is obviously not proper and violates relevant laws and regulations, China Times quoted Zhao Yufeng, an environmental protection expert, as saying.

Close

Today's Top News     Top China News
Tight control drags down growth pace         Museum remembers `Great Man' Deng         Document aids victims seeking redress         Central bank predicts rises in house prices         Law drafted to end Hep B discrimination         Man wins US$21m suit against gov't	Public urged to give more to disaster victims       New traffic law under fire in Beijing       Heatwave deaths prompt shield of workers       Athletes hail hoisting of national flag       Poor college graduates held back by debt       Protestantism sees rapid growth