China blasts dyke to prevent flood
By IANSWednesday, July 14, 2010
BEIJING - Chinese soldiers Wednesday blasted a dyke on a swollen tributary of the Yangtze in a bid to prevent flooding of riverbank villages.
The soldiers had planned to demolish the Qingcao township dyke on the Dasha river Tuesday, but were delayed after torrential rains snapped the explosives’ blasting wires.
Soldiers, however, managed to repair the wires and blast the dyke Wednesday, when water levels subsided and weather improved, Zhang Jun, an army official in charge of the disaster relief work in Anhui province, said.
Water levels at the dyke reduced after the blast, Xinhua reported.
Days of torrential rains caused many leaks on dykes on the Dasha river and over 1,000 people living along it have been evacuated. Hundreds of armed police have been fighting the flood since July 7.
The continuous downpour in Anhui province has disrupted the lives of over four million people, while more than 5,100 houses have collapsed and 17,700 others have been partially damaged in the heavy rains.
The rains have also caused economic loss of more than 1.8 billion yuan ($265.5 million), according to the provincial disaster relief office.
