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| A woman pushes a handcart in the water, which has inundated half of the wheels, in this file photo from last year. Thanks to the city's efforts to smooth underground drainage pipes, this situation will not possibly reappear this rainy season. |
Flood-control departments are reinforcing seacoast dikes, revamping flood-prone districts and doing their best to hold the water back
Since last year, the city has invested 140 million yuan ($16.95 million) to revamp nine downtown flood-prone districts, which benefits 43,000 households
MORE rain is predicted to hit Shanghai in July when the city enters the prime flood period.
Weather forecasts from the Municipal Meteorological Centre say the total precipitation and number of hot days predicted for the city outnumbers average years, and two to three typhoons are also expected to visit the city, with one being particularly fierce. Due to the intensive rainfall and high temperatures, disastrous weather such as thunder storms and cyclones are likely to occur.
High alert
Local authorities have been on high alert since early this month, the beginning of the city's four-month flood season, and drainage and flood-control departments have been gearing up to provide 24-hours-a-day service. Each county and district has appointed senior officials as flood-control leaders. The names have been publicized in local media.
To combat floods, the city has reinforced its four defence lines from seaboard to downtown areas. The 508-kilometre-long seacoast dike, which is considered to be the first defence, now can stand Force 11 to 12 typhoons. The second line is the dike along Huangpu River. Some 110 kilometres of dike are scheduled to be built to prolong the former 208-kilometre dike, with half of the new project already finished. Then comes the anti-flood walls along other small rivers in the city. Underground drainage pipes serve as the last line, which is connected to local residence.
Last August's record rainfall rang an alarm bell in the city when more than 200 streets were flooded and nearly 37,000 households in downtown areas were inundated by the storm. The maintenance and renewal of drainage systems has been a focus of the municipality.
Since last year, the city has invested 140 million yuan ($16.95 million) to revamp nine downtown flood-prone districts, which benefits 43,000 households. Also, the remolding of drainage pipes in 14 areas which are likely to be flooded has gone smoothly, with 12 finished so far, the other two will be completed by the end of this month.
Blockage
Several heavy showers have hit since the beginning of the plum rain season on June 19, local anti-flood officials stressed that the precipitation still did not exceed the city's drainage capacity. If any water accumulated on the streets, it may be attributed to blockages of the water passage.
To guarantee rain water could smoothly pass through drainage pipes, related departments have strengthened their daily inspection of the drainage system.
"Much of the blocking was caused by construction mud, which was poured by construction companies near working sites," said Zhang Jiayi, deputy commander-in-chief of Shanghai Flood Control Headquarters.
Presently, some 7,000 construction sites are scattered around the city. In the first five months of this year, drainage administers inspected 47 construction sites on 84 occasions, and 40 were levied with fines, totalling 657,000 yuan (US$79,000), up 179 per cent over the same period last year.
To further insure an unblocked underground pipe system during the plum rain season, the Municipal Drainage Administration has launched a month-long shock examination around the city starting June 13, which helped to detect some potentially serious threats.
On the first day of examination, inspectors at Benxi Lu in Yangpu District found a new drainage pipe with a diametre of 800 millimetres laid in 1998 full of construction mud, piled more than one metre.
"The pipe had totally lost function," said Ma Yuandong, director of the Municipal Drainage Administration.
Moreover, it was a populous street, and almost 10,000 households were located nearby. Although the construction company began to dredge the pipe immediately, workers had to go underground to dig the mud out spade by spade.
Such a violation was not rare for construction sites. According to related rules, Ma said, construction mud should be first kept in a precipitating tank, and only the clear water without any sediments is allowed to be drained away.
Top officials said these enterprises threatening the city's security may be forced to relocate.
Mayor Chen Liangyu stressed last week that the inspection of such illegal discharges of mud should be further strengthened, yet the management does not merely mean fines.
