Miners in rush for oreput plateau in danger
Source: Xinhua |
July 26, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ONE meter below the ground in northern China, private miners have discovered iron ore. Now they are driving bulldozers and other machinery all over the Loess Plateau in search of more, destroying the natural environment along the way.
Mining has become rampant in Hunyuan and Tianzhen counties in Shanxi Province, jeopardizing the fragile ecological environment, local authorities said.
"Private miners have dug up farmland and plantations," said You Jianhua, head of the Hunyuan land resources bureau. They are "all over" a 1,900-square-kilometer area of "mountains and fields," he said.
"Several hills have been removed by miners and when the rains come the land is prone to be washed away," said Li Yongping, a villager in Mujiazhuang, Hunyuan County.
Hunyuan is home to Mount Hengshen, one of China's Five Sacred Mountains. But a state highway leading to the spot has now become a dusty track jammed by ore-loaded trucks.
A sign reading "Scenic Spot, No Trucks" has been covered with tape.
The mining has also jeopardized anti-desertification work in Tianzhen County, which is 206 kilometers west of Beijing. There, reporters witnessed mining pits 20 to 30 meters deep.
Roads destroyed
Tianzhen County is where some of the sand storms that affect Beijing and Tianjin originate and the central and provincial governments have spent large amounts of money to grow plantations and subsidize farmers.
"I saw a private miner drive a bulldozer onto my farmland one morning. When I came up to stop him, he asked me to give up farming. He said he would compensate me 6,660 yuan (US$982) per mu," said a local farmer surnamed Liu. One mu equals 0.06 hectare.
The farmer said he and many other villagers had taken the offers, mainly because the miners had already destroyed the roads and turned farmland into mines.
The Tianzhen government vowed to check the mining last week and the government efforts have taken some effect. Private mining in the county was virtually halted over the weekend. But mining in Hunyuan is still in full swing.
Wang Xiaochen, a professor at Shanxi University, called on provincial discipline authorities to investigate possible bribery in the county and township-level governments, which he said was to blame for the lack of supervision in the mining sector.
Mining has become rampant in Hunyuan and Tianzhen counties in Shanxi Province, jeopardizing the fragile ecological environment, local authorities said.
"Private miners have dug up farmland and plantations," said You Jianhua, head of the Hunyuan land resources bureau. They are "all over" a 1,900-square-kilometer area of "mountains and fields," he said.
"Several hills have been removed by miners and when the rains come the land is prone to be washed away," said Li Yongping, a villager in Mujiazhuang, Hunyuan County.
Hunyuan is home to Mount Hengshen, one of China's Five Sacred Mountains. But a state highway leading to the spot has now become a dusty track jammed by ore-loaded trucks.
A sign reading "Scenic Spot, No Trucks" has been covered with tape.
The mining has also jeopardized anti-desertification work in Tianzhen County, which is 206 kilometers west of Beijing. There, reporters witnessed mining pits 20 to 30 meters deep.
Roads destroyed
Tianzhen County is where some of the sand storms that affect Beijing and Tianjin originate and the central and provincial governments have spent large amounts of money to grow plantations and subsidize farmers.
"I saw a private miner drive a bulldozer onto my farmland one morning. When I came up to stop him, he asked me to give up farming. He said he would compensate me 6,660 yuan (US$982) per mu," said a local farmer surnamed Liu. One mu equals 0.06 hectare.
The farmer said he and many other villagers had taken the offers, mainly because the miners had already destroyed the roads and turned farmland into mines.
The Tianzhen government vowed to check the mining last week and the government efforts have taken some effect. Private mining in the county was virtually halted over the weekend. But mining in Hunyuan is still in full swing.
Wang Xiaochen, a professor at Shanxi University, called on provincial discipline authorities to investigate possible bribery in the county and township-level governments, which he said was to blame for the lack of supervision in the mining sector.
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