Society

Residents dig in over subway expansion

By Wang Wen (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-02 10:02

Work on the second phase of subway Line 10 started yesterday morning and was greeted with protests from angry residents who fear the project will endanger their homes.

More than 200 laborers wearing battle fatigues formed a human wall around the construction site in Yiyuanju, a large housing estate with more than 2,400 households near the West Third Ring Road. Inside, construction crews began excavating for the new subway line.

The cordon was in place to make sure disgruntled neighbors did not hold up the work.

Construction workers swept aside a tennis court and some persimmon trees to clear way for the work.

A board near the site displayed several documents that said government departments had given the project the go-ahead.

"If the project is legal and reasonable, why did they hire so many laborers and fear residents' protest?" asked Bao Zhenqi, a resident who has lived in the community for more than 10 years.

"It is not an ordinary construction, but a violent action that betrays public opinion," he said.

Buildings in the community are all high-rises and residents fear they might be subject to subsidence if the ground is excavated beneath them.

"Noise and air pollution from the subway will also do harm to old people and children living in the community," added Bao, who said he was an architect.

An old woman, surnamed Liu, tried to enter the site and was taken home by the laborers working the security detail, a female resident said.

"It is a stupid action to hire the laborers to surround the site. That will provoke residents," said Dong Guoguang, one of four representatives who went to negotiate with the government.

Dong said residents did not know the subway would pass through their community until November 2009 but the plans had been drawn up in 2007.

"The government had not informed us before we got the message from one of the residents," Dong said. Residents held about 10 meetings to discuss the issue and suggested a plan to move the subway line to beneath an unused area north of the community, Dong said.

"But it was not accepted, we did not understand why," Dong said.

He said the representatives were urged to reconsider their stand yesterday morning as the construction workers began work on the project.

"It is kind of like luring the tiger out of mountains, but we will not give up and further action will be discussed by residents," Dong said. People wearing black coats and with number cards around their necks walked around the site organizing the laborers.

However, they refused to answer any questions.