Local residents fear for their future as water levels along the Yangtze rise

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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Wushan, China - Recent 1. Wide shot the Three Gorges dam 2. Close shot the Three Gorges dam 3. Wide shot the Three Gorges stretch of the Yangtze River 4. Mid shot from boat, water level sign of 135 meters 5. Mid shot from boat, destroyed houses in water 6. Wide and tilt down from houses uphill to flooded crops in water 7. Wide shot old man walking on the mountain road 8. Mid shot old man walking into his house 9. Wide shot newly built Jiangdong village 10. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Huang Aiping, migrant villager: "Now that we have lost our land, some of us have to leave home, if we find jobs elsewhere. Those who cannot find a job can only stay at home waiting for other ways out." 11. Wide shot Jiangdong village 12. Wide and pull-out from Yangtze River to village houses 13. Close up children 14. Wide villagers 15. Wide shot from boat water level sign of 142 meters 16. Mid shot man working on land 17. Close up crops 18. Close up man's face 19. Wide shot man working on land 20. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Li Zhongbin, farmer: "When the water started to come into my land, I did not sleep for three nights. The only thing I could do was sit on my land and move back inch by inch as the water gradually flooded my plants." 21. Wide shot man sitting beside river 22. Close up man's face 23. Mid shot man sitting watching the river 24. Wide shot man walking in front of his house 25. Close up man feeding pig 26. Close up pig 27. Mid shot man's back 28. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Li Zhongbin, farmer: "I don't want to leave my homeland. They told me to move uphill, but there is no proper farm land there because the quality of the land is very poor and I will have to work hard to find fertile plots, otherwise there is no way for me to live." 29. Wide shot from boat half flooded village 30. Mid shot water level sign of 135 meters STORYLINE: Thousands of Chinese farmers have been rushing this week to harvest vegetable patches on land due to be inundated as part of the Three Gorges dam project on the Yangtze river. After nearly ten years of heavy construction, the sluice gates of Three Gorges dam were closed on June 1. The resulting reservoir will flood 254 square miles (632 square kilometres) of land, submerging dozens of small cities and villages. In all more than a (m) million people will moved from the banks of the river to make way for the reservoir, according to officials, leaving many in the region with an uncertain future. Ten days after the reservoir started to fill, the interim level reached 135 meters (443 feet) above sea level, the minimum for river navigation and for the dam's turbines to begin generating power. The government plans to raise the water level later this year and eventually boost it by another 133 feet. But some farmers have criticised officials for failing to make clear where the water level will eventually be. Although the government says it is compensating villagers for the loss of homes and farmland, many farmers claim that the money is insufficient, and that fertile farmland will be scarce further uphill. Around 720-thousand people have already been moved away from their homes. Most of them are farmers who have, for generations, lived on their patch of lands along the Yangtze River. The drastic move has taken its toll on their financial welfare and their very way of life. 55-year-old Huang Aiping usually plants his vegetable in Jiangdong village by the river. He earned 2,400 US dollars a year from this. Now, with the village and land underwater, Huang and other villagers have relocated 200 meters uphill, fearing for their way of life as more and more land is claimed by the rising waters. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/aea2beb54acf738886a9857a284a20cd Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork