Geological environment problems and disasters are serious in Xinjiang, 90 percent of them for human activities, a survey conducted by Xinjiang Geology Environment Monitor Station revealed lately.
The survey indicates that Xinjiang has been frequently hit by geological disasters, with the Altay Mountains and Tianshan Mountains areas suffering the most.
Illegitimate mining exploitation is the main cause leading to ground catastrophe, landslide and mudflow, according to the survey.
Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang which is located at the foot of Tianshan Mountains, has a long history of coal mining and most of the coalmines are centered around the outskirts of the city.
In recent years, the city has been expanding outwards at a considerable step, with which some formerly mining area comes into the city's residential district
Statistics show that the collapse area in the city's ground surface has reached 13.4 square kilometers (4.93 square miles).
Geologists say that the city ground hollowed by the past coal-mining have not only damaged the local ecological environment, but also threatened buildings and facilities on the ground.
What is more serious, as the hollowed area continues encroaching, the sunken area in the city's ground is also growing.
Local government is trying to use rubbish to fill in the underground holes, hoping to counter the collapsing surface ground.
(People?s Daily June 10, 2002)
