REGIONAL> Major News
|
REGIONAL> Major News
|
|
Main 'quake lake' to be scenic spot
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-24 14:22
Chen told reporters local authorities would spend three years building a new Beichuan, which would feature the distinctive Qiang culture, strong industry and tourism. Beichuan is the only Qiang autonomous county in the country, but the quake almost destroyed its culture completely. "We must preserve the Qiang culture while rebuilding the county," Chen said. The old county seat would also be developed into a scenic spot in future, he said. ROAD TO SLOW RECOVERY Currently, all the homeless in Beichuan have been given temporary shelter in tents or prefab homes at 364 resettlement locations, Chen said. With the support of the eastern Shandong Province, local authorities planned to build 40,000 prefab homes, of which 8,781 had been finished. Local government also allocated nearly 32 million yuan (4.7 million U.S. dollars) for the quake survivors as relief cash and 3.24 million yuan for relatives of the dead. "The agricultural and industrial production are now recovering gradually," Chen said. Local farmers have planted 187,500 mu (12,500 hectares) of corn, rice and beans and 15,000 mu of vegetable after the quake. A hydropower station has restarted operation and a concrete factory has started rebuilding. "We have organized more than 1,200 people to work in Shandong and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region," Chen said. The 8.0-magnitude quake centered in Wenchuan County had left 69,181 people dead, 374,171 injured, 18,498 missing and millions homeless as of Monday noon. More than 13,000 aftershocks were reported after the devastating quake, with the strongest measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale. In terms of the intensity and scope of destruction, the quake surpassed the 7.8-magnitude quake in 1976 in Tangshan, northern Hebei Province. That disaster claimed more than 240,000 lives.
|
