The top environment watchdog will begin environmental impact assessment on the Qinghai-Tibet railway this week.
“The State Environmental Protection Administration (Sepa) will focus its attention on the examination of the protection of ecosystems around the construction site of the Qinghai-Tibet railway,” said Zhu Xingxiang, head of the administration’s Department of Environmental Impact Assessment.
The Qinghai-Tibet railway, the highest-altitude railway in the world, is built on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in north-western China, where the ecosystem is primary, unique and fragile.
The plateau is the place of origin of the country’s five major river systems – the Yellow, Yangtze, Lancang, Nujiang and Yarlung Zangbo.
Also, the plateau is the home to some rare wildlife, such as the Tibetan antelope, wild ass and snow leopard.
The other problem concerning Sepa is whether or not the freedom of migration of Tibetan antelopes will be influenced.
Every year, the migration period for the antelope is from June to August.
During the period in 2002 and 2003, to ensure smooth migration the railway project was temporarily suspended, Zhu added.
Special passageways for the migration of Tibetan antelopes and wild yaks have been designed and built.
“We will also check the infrastructure construction of pollution control and prevention mechanisms,” said Zhu.
Work on the line from Golmud in Qinghai province, to Lhasa, a distance of 1,142km, began on June 29, 2001. About 960km of the track are over 4,000m above sea level, with the highest point 5,072m.
