At least another 300,000 people living along the banks of the huge reservoir behind the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River are to be relocated, according to China Daily. The measure is deemed necessary to create a buffer zone to improve water quality and to address the threat of landslides triggered by the rise and fall of the water level.

Already, 1.138m of an estimated 1.3m people have been moved to make way for the world’s largest hydroelectric project. So far, the government has spent Rmb54bn to help in resettlement, but problems of corruption and inadequate compensation persist. There are also concerns about migrant unemployment.