Oldest irrigation system safe

BEIJING: The safety of the world’s oldest operating irrigation system was not compromised by 12 may 2008 quake in China, though it sustained minor damage, said the Ministry of Water Resources on Wednesday. The quake caused cracks in the V-shaped dyke in Dujiangyan project, which is more than 2,000 years old, and there were collapses in a sluice control room and a standby power generator room, it said.

The city of Dujiangyan, near the epicentre in Wenchuan County, was one of the worst-hit regions in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake.

The Ministry urged protection of the Zipingpu Reservoir between Dujiangyan and Wenchuan, and on the upper stream to Dujiangyan. It said the irrigation system and Dujiangyan City “would be swamped” if major problems emerged at the dam and at the reservoir.

The emergency response office of the Sichuan government said on Tuesday that cracks had appeared on the surface of the dam at Zipingpu and workshops collapsed, while all hydropower generators came to a halt.