Village to be rebuilt after SW China landslide

Plans to relocate and rebuild a village that was devastated by a Friday landslide in southwest China's Yunnan Province have been launched, local officials said Sunday.

The plans went into effect as soon as Saturday afternoon, just after rescue operations were completed, said Chen Xiangjin, vice secretary of the Zhenxiong county committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

"We will relocate 629 residents of the village of Gaopo 2 km away from where the landslide happened," he said, adding that safety and distance have been prioritized in the relocation plans.

Chen said construction will take about six months and will depend on funds earmarked by the national government.

He said prefabricated houses will be built for the villagers before the construction of the new village is completed.

Over 500 villagers have been moved to makeshift tents near the village over fears that a secondary disaster triggered by the landslide could endanger their homes. Others have gone to stay with relatives and friends in other villages.

Chen said a daily subsidy of 12.5 yuan (2 U.S. dollars) will be given to those affected by the landslide for the next three months.

Portable houses will be built to replace the tents and provide shelter for disaster-affected residents. Relocation will be completed within half a year, Chen said.

The landslide killed 46 people, including 19 children, in the mountainous region on Jan. 11. It is believed to have been caused by persistent precipitation.

Earthquakes that struck neighboring Yiliang county last September were also a contributing factor, said Jiang Xingwu, head of a group of geological disaster prevention experts under the provincial land and resources bureau.