Thousands of China’s dams are ‘time bombs’ waiting to burst

Thousands of reservoirs in China are “time bombs” waiting to burst, an official was quoted as saying Friday, a day after a dam collapse forced the evacuation of 1,700 people.

China’s dams and other efforts to control the country’s frequently treacherous rivers have a long and tragic history.

In August 1975, a total of 62 dams in the central province of Henan either collapsed or were intentionally destroyed during a record rainstorm.

According to official statistics, at least 26,000 were killed and 10 million severely affected by the ensuing floods, which were kept secret for years. Experts have blamed faulty engineering for some of the dam failures.

AFP