China has evacuated 158,000 people living downstream a giant lake formed by the devastating May 12 earthquake amidst fears that it could burst and cause flooding as emergency workers on Wednesday remained on alert with contingency plans. The 158,000 people threatened by a swollen quake lake in 169 communities of 33 townships, Mianyang, were evacuated to safer places under a contingency plan, official Xinhua news agency said. Engineers were digging a diversion channel to prevent flooding from the Tangjiashan lake formed when landslides blocked Jiangjiang river above Beichuan county, near the epicentre of the 8.0 magnitude quake in which the death toll rose to 68,109 on Wednesday. The threat of flooding loomed large even as aftershocks continued to rumble across quake-battered areas triggering more anxiety and fear in the temblor-weary people, millions of whom have been rendered homeless. Tangjiashan is one of the 35 lakes formed by the quake-induced landslides and mudflows. As it is inaccessible by road and can only be reached by foot or air, hundreds of troops and armed police carrying dynamite have trekked there to blast away the barrier. Every resident from the targeted areas in Mianyang, a hard-hit city in the May 12 quake, had been informed of the emergency evacuation plans through repeated drills and public announcements, including routes for evacuation, directions to safe areas and locations of temporary shelters, Tan Li, Party Secretary of Mianyang, said. "The efforts are aimed at getting all the 1.3 million residents on the move within four hours in case the quake lake bank fully opens, and zero deaths in the process of evacuation," Tan said. Two aftershocks in the disaster zone yesterday flattened 420,000 houses in the quake-shattered Sichuan province and left 63 people injured. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told a meeting of the State Council quake relief headquarters on Tuesday that handling the ‘quake lakes’ was the ‘most pressing task at present’, the state-run China Daily said. As the landslides continued to pose problems in keeping the roads accessible, a top official of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Mu Hong said, "We are racing against time to repair damaged infrastructure." "The high risk of mudslides and landslides make our efforts more difficult," he said in Beijing. More than 45.61 million people were affected by the quake and about 15 million have been evacuated, the office of the State Council or the cabinet said, according to Xinhua.Quoting a China Seismological Bureau official, the agency said a total of 243 aftershocks were monitored in the disaster zones during the 24 hours ended this afternoon. Ever since the May 12 quake, 8,911 aftershocks had been detected in the quake-hit areas, the bureau said. In the midst of ramped up efforts, the Ministry of Health said no major epidemics had been reported so far. The ruling Communist Party of China has vowed to give ‘quick, strict and harsh penalties’ against those found withholding or embezzling quake relief fund and supplies. He Guoqiang, the CPC's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) secretary, said it goes against justice to make profit from a national calamity by withholding and embezzling quake relief funds and supplies. As China grappled with the aftermath of the disaster in a mammoth effort, a top UN official said it stands ready to provide long-term support to help reconstruct affected areas. "It is already clear to us that this tragedy will need attention for many months if not years to come," UN Resident Coordinator in China, Khalid Malik, said.
