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January 15, 2013

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Mining damage cuts off water, creates cave-ins

MORE than 20 crater-like holes have appeared in rural Hunan Province in central China as a result of mining activities, leaving 4,000 villagers concerned about their drinking water.

An initial investigation showed that years of coal mining had damaged the underground water system in Fukou Town and caused the cave-ins in fields and riverbanks starting in September 2012, China News Service said yesterday.

Subsidence has blocked some creeks and cut off water supplies to about 4,000 villagers and 33 hectares of farmland.

It also cracked the walls of about 20 houses, forcing two families to evacuate.

Photographs showed that water from blocked creeks flowed into a big hole in the ground, and many other holes had also filled up with water.

The local government has launched an investigation and is working on a compensation plan for affected families, the report said.

Last February, nearly 700 cave-ins were reported in Yuejiaqiao Town in Hunan, damaging dozens of houses, farms and riverbeds. Some 1,200 residents had their lives disrupted by the cave-ins.

The underground structure, as well as heavy rainfall and also some engineering projects, combined to cause the land to sink, an investigation found.

In Harbin City in the northeast, seven reported road cave-ins in nine days in the middle of August last year killed two people and injured two others after two vehicles fell into deep pits.

In north China's Shijiazhuang City, 80 road cave-ins were reported after the flood season in June 2012.


 

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