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Reconstruction requires careful planning
By Xin Zhiming (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-02 11:12 Reconstruction planning should be phase-based and have concrete goals, says Hu. The first phase could cover the first year of reconstruction and target the basic necessities of the victims, such as food supply, temporary housing and jobs. The second phase could cover reconstruction in the next three or five years. Ultimately, the planning should chart reconstruction in the coming decade. Sichuan has reportedly drafted a reconstruction plan, which includes recovery of urban and rural facilities, industrial and services sectors, and geological and environmental disaster management. If again? A major concern in the reconstruction policymaking is the possibility of recurrence of earthquakes in the coming years. Experts say studying the local geological conditions must be given the priority in choosing the reconstruction sites. The quake-hit regions are in the ring of fire caused by the collision of the Pacific Plate and the Indian Ocean Plate. The last major earthquake of 7.5 magnitude occurred 55 years ago in these regions. So another major earthquake within five or six decades in the same place can't be ruled out. The reconstruction, therefore, must be undertaken away from steep mountains (to avoid post-quake mudslides) and in relatively open places, says Li Kaifa, a Beijing-based urban planning expert. Entire Beichuan, one of the worst hit counties in Sichuan, is expected to be moved to a new place. But experts are divided on how to deal with other counties and towns similarly affected and located in the seismic hot spots. Even if those counties and towns remain in their old location, their buildings will have to be made quake resistant, they say. For facilities such as schools, the standards must be set even higher than ordinary buildings.
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