Residents carry water in buckets for their crops. Photo: IC

Water flowing through the middle route of the South-to-North water diversion project arrived in Beijing just before the New Year, expected to quench the thirst of the metropolis's residents and industries.

While the project seeks to benefit millions, it has disrupted the life of many others. So far 420,000 people have been relocated to make room for reservoirs, water channels and related projects. In Hubei Province alone, the source of the diverted water, more than 180,000 people have had to leave their homes.

One of the places that has swelled with relocated families, Huanghu New Village in Tuanfeng county, has 3,721 new residents relocated from 574 kilometers away in 2010. Each household was allocated 1.5 mu (0.1 hectares) of farmland and 0.2 mu to serve as a vegetable patch, to the envy of the area's long-time residents.

However, coming from the wet city of Shiyan, the relocated families have struggled with the water situation in their new home.

They have found it difficult to tend their crops due to the smaller amount of precipitation the area receives compared with Shiyan and a lack of irrigation facilities in the village. A water channel built through the area was left unattended and filled with sewage. The water treatment plant built in the village has not been put to use yet due to delays in the installation of an essential water pipe and the cost of running the plant, something not uncommon in Hubei.

As a result, many of the newcomers have leased their farmland to the locals and simply tend their vegetable fields. Keeping fowl is not allowed, as the new villages have adopted the management methods of towns, as part of the government's effort to urbanize the area.

In order to help the relocated people adjust to their new surroundings, they were given vocational training before being moved and many have found jobs in the factories of the county, which is a steel-producing region.

One of the residents, surnamed Jin, said the relocation has increased his family's income but also their living costs. Four years on, he said they have adapted to their new way of life and will keep it up.

Global Times

Children settle in at the primary school in the village that receives students from both the village and surrounding areas.

Older people struggle to find a stable job in the new environment. Photo: IC

A water channel running through the new village is polluted with sewage. Photo: IC

One of the new residents has had some success raising ducks in a leased pond. Photo: IC