Two dams in North China's Inner Mongolia collapsed after the area received heavy rains on Saturday (July 17) and Sunday (July 18). About 20000 people have been affected.
After North China’s Inner Mongolia received heavy rain on Saturday (July 17) and Sunday (July 18), the dams on the Yong'an Reservoir and the Xinfa Reservoir in the Daur Autonomous Banner of Morin Dawa collapsed, posing a danger to the lives of over 20000 people.
Chinese social media sites were flooded with videos of the dams swept away by a heavy water flow.
Reuters reported China has over 98,000 reservoirs for regulating floods, generating power and facilitating shipping. The Chinese government has acknowledged that “over 80% of them are four decades old or older, and some pose a safety risk.”
It quoted Deputy Water Resources Minister Wei Shanzhong saying, “A lack of financial resources means that nearly a third of the total number have not had mandatory safety appraisals completed.”
The rushing water also blew twenty-two bridges away.
Eighty-seven millimetres of rain fell in Hulunbuir on Saturday (July 17) and Sunday (July 18). As much as 223 millimetres of rain fell at the Morin Dawa monitoring station, the Water Resources Ministry said.
