Premier Wen Jiabao has again suspended construction on the Liuku power station on the Nu River until after a thorough study of the hydroelectric dam’s potential environmental impact. Work on damming the Nu River has proceeded in fits and starts since 2004 in a tug of war between environmental activists and the power industry. Jane Macartney reports for the Times Online:
The Prime Minister of China has ordered a halt to construction of a hydroelectric plant on one of the country’s most remote and beautiful rivers. He has demanded an in-depth study of the likely impact on the local ecology and communities.
The decision, which will enrage power companies as well as local vested interests, was welcomed by China’s increasingly vocal environmental campaigners.
[…]One campaigner said that the importance of the Premier’s decision should not be underestimated. “The Nu River is one of only two rivers in China that have not yet been dammed. There has been no research on the biodiversity of the river where there may be many valuable and endangered animals and plants. If they are overwhelmed the losses can never be reversed,” she said.
