(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-08 16:03

MIANYANG, Sichuan Province - The water level of the Tangjiashan "quake lake" in southwest China was continuing to rise dangerously on Sunday despite the operation of a manmade drainage channel since Saturday morning.

Soldiers jump into the man-made sluice channel to clear objects obstructing the water drain from the Tangjiashan "quake lake" in Mianyang City, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 7, 2008. [Xinhua]

"The drainage plus natural leakage of the lake is about 25 cubic meters per second, while the inflow is 4.6 times more than that, but its impact on the lake dam is not obvious," said Zhang Ting, head of the Sichuan provincial hydro-meteorological bureau.

The water level in the lake stood at 741.82 meters above sea level at midday on Sunday, still 1.45 meters higher than the sluice, and the lake's volume exceeded 240 million cubic meters.

Zhang also said no rainfall was expected on Monday, which would be good for the quake relief work.

Military engineers have fired missiles to blast boulders in the channel to accelerate drainage.

The water flow through the sluice channel has widened from less than five meters to about eight meters.

"Generally speaking, construction of the lake's drainage projects is going well, but the lake remains dangerous for hundreds of thousands of people downstream," said General Ge Zhenfeng, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), who is supervising the project.

"It will take us a few days to eliminate the potential danger of the lake," said the general.

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