By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, August 12: As of Thursday, the death toll from landslides in Tibet’s Amdo Province has reached 1,117, with another 627 people still missing, Chinese state media said.
Tibetan Government-in-Exile and Tibetan exiles around the world have been holding regular prayers services for the victims of the tragedy.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement he was “saddened by the loss of life and devastation” caused by the disaster.
He expressed his “deepest condolences to the families of those who have died or been injured or lost their homes and possessions.”
Leaders of international organizations and countries have also reportedly offered condolences to the family members of the victims.
In a shocking revelation, a report by Christian Science Monitor, said the mudslides in the Drugchu (Ch: Zhouqu) County was more than a natural disaster.
The report said the mudslides were predicted 13 years ago, when Chinese government-run lumber companies cut 313,000 acres of forest from the slopes of Zhouqu county between 1952 and 1990, denuding the geologically vulnerable mountainsides and subjecting them to soil erosion.
The report said the findings were supported by official records.
At the time, it said Chinese scientists warned that deforestation in geologically sensitive areas could exacerbate mudslides.
The report said two Chinese scientists published a paper warning that following “the destruction of the eco-system” in the district, “a rainstorm will carry debris down the gully, destroying farmland, houses, roads, bridges, water facilities, and power systems and causing death and injury.”
Chinese media have called it a rain-triggered mudslides, but the latest report is corroborated by a collaborative investigation by a Beijing-based Tibetan writer Woeser, which also suggested that the landslide appeared to be a “man-made disaster”.
The investigative findings said excessive mining activities, construction of number of hydroelectric power plants and other development activities, and heavy deforestation taking place in Drugchu County area could have triggered the mudslides.
The investigation, citing Chinese government reports, found more than 60 incidents of landslides in Drugchu County alone in the past, and 13 of them were said to be serious cases that threatened the safety of local residents.
