China's Three Gorges Dam: the disaster project | Revisited • FRANCE 24 English

It is simply the largest, most expensive, most powerful and possibly the most controversial dam in all of history. Today we take it to China to the Three Gorges Dam. It has been ten years since the massive

project

was completed. Imagine these 185 meters of height that are the equivalent. It is a building with more than 60 floors and two kilometers long, the reservoir behind it covers 1,000 square kilometers The idea is full of history The father of the Chinese revolution Sun Yatsem dreamed of this as early as 1919. Although it worked, it did not start until 1994, after After a series of intense debates, it is certain that the dam has greatly facilitated transportation.

The Yangtze River flood is easier to regulate and produces huge amounts of electricity, but the dam was incredibly expensive - €23 billion and sparked criticism, they say. Catastrophic human consequences Almost 1.5 million people displaced to make way for the monster woman To increase the anguish there are also enormous environmental concerns Even during its construction, experts were already warning about the ecological impact of the dam The destruction of the ecosystem the elimination of species entire animals in the region and the acceleration of natural

disaster

s it is sad to say that they have been proven right as you will see that witnesses are rare and investigating what happened is incredibly difficult antoine very angelique fourjay and charlie wang revisit the

three

gorges

dam for

france

24. these newlyweds want to celebrate their union in a spectacular way they have chosen a mass wedding these 28 couples are getting married at the same time in a privileged place at the foot of the

three

gorges

dam that inaugurated on 10 years ago a powerful symbol that brought them from all over China the hydraulic dam also has a strong patriotic pride the Chinese structure is not limited to superlatives it is the largest, most powerful and most expensive dam in the world this couple wants its history of love To be forever linked to this example of Chinese greatness.

I am very excited. I am very excited. This wedding ceremony is very significant and is different from regular weddings. Generally only friends and family are invited to participate, but here it is as if we were hosting. married in front of all the Chinese people we are here in front of this dam and in front of this great river to promise our eternal love to each other this concrete giant has gone down in history as China's largest construction

project

of the century XX, ten years later, it has achieved its objective of controlling the flow of the Yangtze River and increasing electricity production in an unprecedented feat: it produces as much hydroelectric energy per year as 15 nuclear reactors.

Thanks to the dam, the inhabitants of the area have seen their lives transformed. power outages now a thing of the past for the country's leaders the dam is a monument to

china

's prowess on an inspection tour of the three magnificent valleys two years ago chinese president xi jinping celebrated the success of the project with workers of the site the three gorges dam is a symbol We could only trust ourselves to carry out this project. I am very happy to be here and to be able to witness it like everyone else who is here. I have gained confidence, but such a gigantic structure also has its share of controversy.

Entire valleys were flooded during construction in total 1.4 million people had to abandon their lands and properties to make way for construction 400 kilometers from the dam in a valley upstream. This retired farmer was one of the first displaced and preferred remain anonymous even for 30 years After the project began, the dam remains a sore topic. My house was right there, next to the bamboo. My workshop was there. I shelled ears of grass and made flowers here. He lived here with his wife and father until the family home was threatened by rising water levels the water level reached 1.75 meters it was very close the house ended up right next to the water yes they were worried that the river flooded the house so they told me to move more than 20 years after his house was confiscated today is the first time he returned to the site his pain is intact this place makes me very sad it was a good idea to build the dam but it would have been better find accommodation for those who have been expropriated now I have nowhere to live I live in poverty my life has changed after his expulsion the authorities offered to relocate him to a neighboring province more than 800 kilometers from home but without accommodation or land to continue farming He refused to leave now he is 64 years old unemployed and without money he is settled in this city next to the river where he rents a small room in an underground apartment that he shares with a family here is the entrance to the apartment this is the kitchen and this is my room his Living conditions are terrible and unhealthy but it is all he can pay as compensation for being expropriated the Chinese authorities gave him 3,000 euros and a monthly pension of only six euros this is the document that proves that I am a damn migrant three magnificent are the authorities They destroyed my house and then they sold the bricks but they didn't care about anything that would happen to me after that I lived in the countryside I had fields I could work the land I had enough to live on today I no longer have fields I have nothing or Chinese money He is not the only one in their village to mourn the expropriation of their property others also had to abandon their lands twenty years and their anger is still palpable sit on a chair these villagers have been asking for additional compensation and today they will meet to see if their claims have been respected The directors agreed to be filmed because the authorities already know about their complaints.

They feel they have nothing to lose. We are still waiting for a payment of 150 euros. We moved 20 years ago and we have only received 2500 euros. Is that enough to survive for 20 years? They, too, were once farmers who were ordered to abandon their land and start a completely new life far from home. A situation that they still encounter with the local authorities, but they do not listen, we do not know to whom. We turn for help. We are in favor of Saddam's Three Gorges. It is our duty to support the project, but we should receive more help.

None of these farmers will say a word against the dam itself, despite the methods used to achieve it. Of them expressed their support for this great national plan, but the three magnificent dams have not only displaced more than a million people, they have also caused enormous changes in the biodiversity of the Yongsa River. Upstream is Chongqing and its 34 million inhabitants, once isolated, the city has now become a major economic center, all thanks to the dam and the development of river transport, but at what cost? The world's third largest river is now virtually devoid of fish. The fishermen's nets are becoming empty and their boats barely leave the dock.

This is the boat I used for short trips, I would sit here and we would go to He used to be a fisherman for 25 years, he sailed on the Yangtze River every day, but for a year now he has been banned from sailing in the waters in November of last year. The officials ordered us to stop fishing and destroy our boats. We were told that this ban would last 10 years because there were no fish left in the river. That's why we can't officially fish. Overfishing is to blame for the current situation. the responsibility of the fisherman but chanyo yi and his colleague reject this version of events they believe that there is another explanation it is because it cuts the river in two the fish downstream cannot swim upstream they reproduce in the tributaries of the river in addition to the main channel, this has consequences in the higher waters, before the dam, we could fish up to 40 or 45 kilos per day, after the dam it was reduced to 5 or 10 kilos per day.

Can you imagine such a big difference today? Angling in Chongqing is the only type of fishing still allowed along the Yangtze River, but these amateur fishermen have come to the same conclusion: there is simply nothing to catch. I haven't caught a single fish. I'm just here to kill time. Look here, I'll show you. What I understood since the construction of the dam, many scientists have investigated the project and faced some difficult questions, such as: is such a huge structure really necessary? What is the environmental impact of the dam? Maybe it's doing more harm than good? a chinese scientist agreed to answer our questions, but his apartment is under surveillance by the authorities, so we spoke to him online when someone speaks publicly about the dam it is only to talk about its positive aspects, publicly questioning its existence is prohibited as a geologist and As an Expert on this particular dam, he is not only concerned about the decline in fish numbers, but also maintains that the water of the Yangtze River is more polluted than before.

After the dam was built, the water flowed more slowly, so it was not renewed as quickly before when it was wasted. the water flowed into the river its rapid flow meant that the water could be renewed and dissolve waste today the river flow is slower and the quality of the water is not as good as it used to be beyond the environmental impact some are concerned about the geological impact consequences Record rains during the summer flooded central China and filled the Three Gorges Reservoir to a level not seen since it came into service. As a result, some believe the dam is approaching its breaking point last year.

Satellite images were shared online before being censored. showed what looked like a distortion in the structure. Authorities insist there is no risk of the dam exploding, but 9,000 kilometers away, in the German city of Dortmund, the Chinese geologist is expressing serious concerns. Wong Wei Luo is a staunch critic of the dam and has written extensively on the subject and is prohibited from publishing it in his country. He rejects the Chinese government's assurances. The Chinese government is hiding something. At first he said there is no distortion, there is no movement, it's nonsense, everything is in order and now he says yes, there are movements.

There is some distortion but it has not reached its limits. The problem is that the government does not say where those limits are. If the structure were to break, the enormous amount of water retained by the dam would submerge part of the city of Wuhan a few years ago 400 kilometers downstream. Despite its opponents, China's appetite for hydropower has not been curbed; In fact, the country has the largest number of dams in the world, 98,000 and counting structures that continue to disrupt biodiversity and displace people across the country Antoine Veddy Anjali Fouge and Charlie Wang revisiting the Three Gorges Dam to

france

24. well that's all for this week's edition, don't forget of course you can watch it and all the previous editions too on our website, france24.com, there will be more news in just a moment thanks for watching