Flood of doubts: sceptical public questions Three Gorges Dam’s capacity to stop disasters
Project was touted as a tool to prevent floods but those claims have been watered down and new threats are eroding confidence – and riverbanks. The floods have wreaked havoc in the east, leaving 237 people dead and another 93 missing. That is on top of the 69 people killed when Typhoon Nepartak hit Fujian province on July 9. Other critics raised doubts online about the Three Gorges Dam and its much-touted capacity to prevent floods. They circulated warnings by the late hydrologist Huang Wanli, who predicted that the dam would eventually fill with silt, and have to be demolished. As censors rushed to remove the critiques from cyberspace, the authorities moved in to defend the world’s biggest hydropower project.
