An array of pictures showing that houses in a Shanxi Province village have cracked or even collapsed because of nearby coal mining has made netizens condemn overdevelopment.
The photos of the village in China's top coal-producing province were published on Tencent's news website, news.qq.com. They illustrate that there are a growing number of buildings in Helin Village that have been damaged by land subsidence caused by nearby coal mining. The photos show buildings with cracked walls and partly collapsed roofs. Although the government has evacuated the residents who live closest to the mines, many other villagers remain in Helin.
The news sparked a discussion among Chinese netizens, with many commenting that the issue of land subsidence has not only hit Shanxi, but also other provinces engaged in mining or extracting groundwater. Some commenters who said they were from Shanxi complained that while their province contributes significantly to the country as a whole through the coal and electricity sectors, Shanxi locals are left to suffer from the effects of excessive mining.
According to media reports, mining does not cause land subsidence if the proper precautions are taken, such as refilling the mines after resources have been extracted. However, many Shanxi coal miners reportedly opted to bypass these steps to save money, and the local government has turned a blind eye to it. Netizens said that now Shanxi is dealing with the consequences of overdevelopment and warned the local government to stop harming future generations.
Picture by Li Songjiang
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