Shipping will be banned on China's Three Gorges Dam water areas from April 10 to June 15, as the reservoir is expected to be filled this June, the Ministry of Communications announced Tuesday.
The Ministry said preparation work for filling the Three Gorges Reservoir will begin on April 10and the dam water areas will see no ships until June 15.
All provinces, cities and shipping companies concerned should make arrangements soon for their passenger and cargo vessels, said the ministry.
Located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, the country's longest river, the Three Gorges project, designed for flood-control, power generation and navigation, will see its initial fruits this year in water filling, power generation and navigation.
The whole project, which consists of a reservoir and power generating units, began construction in 1993 and is expected to end in 2009. A total of 89.6 billion yuan (US$10.8 billion) have been used so far, and the amount will reach 180 billion yuan (US$21.7 billion) in 2009,according to statistics with the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Co.
(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2003)
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