Helping relocated people lead better life

Over the past five years, Beijing has spared no efforts to help the people relocated by the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the world's largest water diversion project, which has benefited half of Beijing's total population.

More than 345,000 people, mostly farmers living around Danjiangkou reservoir area, relocated from their old residences in Central China's Henan and Hubei provinces to make way for the project.

The mega project has served as the lifeline of water supply for the country's parched north, transferring water through eastern and western routes from the Yangtze River, as well as middle route, the most prominent of the three due to its role in feeding water from to capital.

He Yu, an official with Beijing's Haidian district government who is now serving as vice-mayor of Shiyan city in Hubei, said Haidian district in Beijing has invested more than 1.1 billion yuan ($157.1 million) to Shiyan in over 400 projects to help protect the water quality, improve people's livelihood and upgrade local industries.

"It is the selfless sacrifice of the people in Danjiangkou that helps the capital to alleviate its water scarcity and groundwater overexploitation," he said, adding that Beijing has been taking all measures to make sure the relocated people live a comfortable life after relocation.

According to Beijing Water Authority, Beijing has so far received over 5.2 billion cubic meters of water diverted from the Danjiangkou reservoir in the past five years. Now over 73 percent of Beijing's tap water supply comes from the project, benefiting over 12 million residents.

Local farmers, though with less arable land available as a result of the project, have seen output increase with the technological assistance from Beijing.

Li Feng, a 53-year-old orange farmer, lost half of his land due to the project. After adopting new irrigation and fertilization technology and weed control technology provided by Beijing, he found the less land more profitable.

"Less water and fertilizer and higher efficiency mean more free time for farmers to make more money," he said. "I have also been taking a part-time job in nearby clothing factory, which earns me extra income of over 1,500 yuan per month."