Beichuan's county seat moves to safety

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-6-11  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

CHINESE experts have chosen the new site for Beichuan, one of the worst-hit counties in the May 12 earthquake, in the neighboring Anxian County in southwestern Sichuan Province.

The new county seat will be located at Bandengqiao in western Mianyang City, about 35 kilometers from its previous location at Qushan Township.

Experts in charge of selecting the site for Beichuan came to the conclusion after a month of research and have submitted the plan to the State Council for approval.

"The new county seat covers 3-5 square kilometers and is expected to house 30,000 people. It will take three years for reconstruction once the plan is approved," said Li Xiaojiang, head of China Academy of Urban Planning and Design and one of the experts.

The Beichuan Autonomous County of Qiang Nationality, whose county seat Qushan is surrounded by hills up to 1,000 meters high, was one of the worst-hit areas in the quake. More than 8,600 of the 13,000 people living in the county seat were killed.

It is impossible to rebuild the county seat at its original location or close by as the quake destroyed about 70 percent of the buildings there.

Experts finally chose Bandengqiao, a flat area at the junction of the Anchang and Huangtu townships, for reasons of safety, future development and residents' traditions.

"Safety is the priority for selecting a new location and reconstruction," said Li. "Bandengqiao has seen few geological disasters in its history and this flat area is only about 35 kilometers from the urban area of Mianyang City, which is good for the future economic development of Beichuan."

The original low-lying county seat lay directly over a geological fracture zone, where quakes frequently occurred, and it was encircled by mountains, leaving buildings at a high risk of landslides.