Ecosystem along railway protected ( 2003-08-29 09:08) (China Daily)
A senior environment official said yesterday in Beijing that authorities have
taken effective environmental protection measures along the right-of-way of the
Qinghai-Tibet railway, which is currently under construction, to protect local
wildlife and natural surroundings.
Long-term monitoring of the local environment and the activities of wildlife
needs to be carried out to make timely improvements, said Zhu Xingxiang,
vice-director of the supervision and management department under the State
Environmental Protection Administration.
The Qinghai-Tibet railway, which will be the highest railway in the world,
will be the first rail link between Tibet and rest of the country. Construction
started in 2001 and is scheduled to be completed by 2007.
More than 1,100 kilometres long, the railway will link Golmud, in Northwest
China's Qinghai Province, with Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Possible environmental impacts of the construction work have long been a top
concern among authorities, because the local ecosystem is considered to be
particularly fragile because the air is rarefied and the plateau is cold and dry
and subject to strong winds. Earlier this month, the State Environmental
Protection Administration sent an investigation team, consisting of environment
and biology experts and officials from involved departments, to see if the
environment is being effectively protected along the railway's right-of-way.
Construction contractors have attached great importance to the protection of
perpetually frozen earth, and the rivers and wildlife along the railway,
according to Zhu.
Bridges or paths have been made along the completed sections of the railway
to allow passage of animals.
During construction, areas where the land has been disturbed are closely
monitored and measures are taken to restore vegetation, he said.
All the daily waste generated by construction workers is collected and
treated, and the investigation teams found no signs of littering, Zhu said.
