Editorials

Scientific system

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-15 07:41

Torrential rains have inundated quite a few cities this summer, and the root cause of that lies in today's drainage system, which has proven woefully inadequate in countering downpours of this magnitude.

In this regard, modern-day town planners can learn from the drainage facility constructed in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, during the Song Dynasty (960-1127) period.

The system is stunning: it's scientific design has ensured that rain water drains smoothly into the river outside the city limits, and prevents seepage into the city even when the river rises above the danger mark.

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It is appalling that with the technology at our disposal, a better system has not been built. Water logging has become a serious problem even in large metros such as Beijing. And, urban planners have failed to devise a system that can withstand the furious onslaught of the rains in peak summer months.

It seems the urban planners do not seem inclined to design or build a system that can rival the Song Dynasty one, simply because they lack the incentive to do so. If a mediocre system can do an adequate job during times of no rain, why bother to do a better job - that seems to be the thinking.

This clearly shows just how lethargic our civil servants have become when it comes to executing works that are in the public interest.

So far, neither legal regulation nor administrative supervision has been effective in ensuring a sound drainage system that works well during rainy days. It should have.

(China Daily 07/15/2010 page8)