Experts say that the program for the coming five years will focus on controlling coal consumption, stabilizing the use of oil and gas, and increasing the use of wind and solar power. (Photo : China Daily)
Shanxi's government relocated its residents after grounds within the underground coal-mining areas started to collapse and made houses fall down.
According to a report by Sina English, over 650,000 residents from approximately 220,000 households of various villages were relocated.
The news site added that 1,352 houses from different villages will be repaired and renovated beginning this year until 2017.
Located in the northern part of China, the province is widely known for its coal-mining industry and has provided the country with over 100 billion tons of raw coal for 45 years.
As almost 3 percent or 5,000 square kilometers of the province were occupied with coal-mining projects, Shanxi's ecosystem suffered and devastated thousands of houses.
Aside from the affected houses, Shanxi's farmlands and underground waters also became casualties.
In fact, locals told China Daily that they have to hire vehicles to transport potable water located 10 kilometers away from their homes.
Elderly people were also among the concerns as their houses are classified as dangerous places to live in due to cracks that were seen on the walls.
The government must do a massive relocation as well as provide jobs for the residents in their new relocation, said Ma Fuquan, an officer from the Bureau of Land and Resources of Zuotu County in Shanxi.
In 2009, a mine explosion took place in Gujiao city near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi. Seventy-four miners were killed, five were diagnosed to be in a critical condition, and 114 were harmed due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
According to reports, the mine blast was considered as one of the deadliest accidents in China after the 2007 mining accident that also took place in the province which killed 105 people.
