Residents make way for largest ever radio telescope

The telescope under construction in Pingtang county, Guizhou province, in December. OU DONGQU/XINHUA

Guizhou province is expected to evacuate more than 9,000 people for the completion of the world's largest radio telescope.

Resetting residents within five kilometers of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, will create a sound electromagnetic wave environment for its operation, said Li Yuecheng, a senior official from the provincial political advisory body.

The Guizhou provincial government is expected to resettle 9,110 residents in Pingtang and Luodian counties by the end of September, he said.

Each resident will get a subsidy of 12,000 yuan ($1,800) from the provincial reservoir and eco-migration bureau, and each ethnic minority household with housing difficulties will get 10,000 yuan from the provincial ethnic and religious committee.

Construction of FAST began in March 2011 with an investment of 1.2 billion yuan. Upon completion, the telescope will be the world's largest of its kind, overtaking Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory.