China opens grand canal to divert water to its arid northern part

BEIJING: China's decades old project of diverting river water from one end to the other saw the light of day on Friday. A key section of the massive $62 billion project meant to transport water from central and southern China to the arid north, including Beijing, was thrown open.

The section will feed 100 million people in the cities of Beijing, Tianjin and nearby provinces after bringing in an average 9.5 billion cubic meters—one-sixth of the volume of the giant Yellow River—of water. The water canal is 1,432km-long beginning at Danjiangkou reservoir in central China's Hubei province.

The project was first proposed during the period of former Communist Party leader Mao Zedong in the 1950s. The goal is to provide water to 300 million people in China's parched and pollution-ridden north. At least 20 major cities will be covered by the project.