Environment guardians at each step of Tibet rail link

Construction of the world's highest railway line has posed unique and challenging problems, China Daily reported Saturday.

And ecological protection has topped the Qinghai-Tibet railway project's agenda.

So far, effective measures have been put in place to protect the environment along the railway, a senior environment official said on Friday.

Since the launch of construction work, authorities have continually carried out environmental impact assessment and strengthened monitoring of the environment, said Vice-Minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration Pan Yue.

Perpetually frozen earth, rivers, wildlife and natural scenery along the railway are being well protected, he said.

Stretching across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the line will be the first rail link between Tibet and the rest of China.

It will run from Xining, capital of Northwest China's Qinghai Province to the ancient Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

The first section from Xining to Golmud in Qinghai was completed in 1984. Construction of the second section linking Golmud with Lhasa which began in June 2001 is expected to be completed by 2007.

The ecosystem along the railway's path is particularly fragile because of the high altitude of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with its rarefied air and cold, dry climate.

Construction areas are kept to a minimum and routes for workers and vehicles to pass are strictly limited to avoid unnecessary damage to local vegetation, said Pan.

Careful study of the habits and migration routes of wild animals living along the proposed path of the line have been carried out. Where the track may disturb those paths, alternative ones are built for the animals at corresponding points along the railway.

Local wetlands and the vast expanse of frozen earth are also carefully protected, while.

considerable efforts are made to keep the discharge of pollutants to a minimum, said Pan.

The number of stations along the route will also be limited, to minimize human contact.

Measures to treat daily life sewage will be adopted at where there must be stations. The treated sewage will be used to water plants and grasslands within the stations, rather than entering local surface water systems.

The stations themselves will run on clean energy, such as solar and wind power, Pan added.

Source: China Daily