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Dozens of cracks appear in days-old Three Gorges Dam

China says that 80 cracks have appeared in the Three Gorges Dam, only days after the huge reservoir behind it was filled for the first time.

"If water enters these cracks, there could be negative effects, so we are fixing them very carefully," Pan Jiazhong, head of the dam's inspection group, said on Thursday.

He denied that the cracks threatened the dam's safety, but said they could expand and cause leaking unless repaired.

The reservoir now extends upstream for 219km, with a maximum water depth of 135m.

A failure of the dam could have catastrophic consequences downstream in the fertile and densely populated middle Yangtze valley.

Another official said the project had already displaced more than 700,000 people -- a higher figure than previously estimated.

Guo Shuyan, director of the construction committee, said that dozens of towns had been evacuated and 13 larger urban communities rebuilt on higher land.

He admitted that there was insufficient land for the farmers who have been moved.

"We're now studying how to improve their living standards," he said.

Measures were being considered to protect the dam against an attack by terrorists, he added.

Cracks in the upstream face of the dam were first revealed in March last year by Chinese journalists.

Dam engineers at the Three Gorges project development corporation said this was a "normal phenomenon" but added that the faults would be remedied.

Last month, Pan made a more detailed statement about the cracks, saying that experts were "particularly concerned."

It was reported only on the Yangtze river commission Web site, while national publicity focused on the "successful" filling of the reservoir.

Pan said then that it was "too early to be proud" of the dam.

"We have a long way to go ... I hope we will do our best to build a first-class project rather than a dam with 10-meter long cracks," he said.

Meanwhile, an official in Beijing said yesterday that China was forecasting flooding along major rivers in the north in the coming months, even as other parts of the country struggle with drought.

Floods and landslides caused by heavy rains have killed 182 people so far this summer, said Zhang Zhitong, deputy director of the government's flood control agency.

Heavier than normal rains are expected in northern China, Zhang said at a news conference.
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