Technical Aid to Tibet: Composing a Song of Water Conservancy for the Benefit of the People in the Snowy Plateau

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a day of family reunion for many people. During this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Zhijing and the members of the group could only "share a thousand miles with their families" on the snowy plateau.

Li Zhijing, 35, is a senior engineer at the Institute of Rivers of the Yangtze River Academy of Sciences and the head of the fifth batch of "group-style" technical aid missions of the Ministry of Water Resources (hereinafter referred to as the "fifth batch of technical aid to Afghanistan"). In July, he and 14 technical experts from the national water conservancy system came to Ali, Tibet, for a three-month technical assistance exercise.

"Compared with the previous technical aid mission, the most prominent feature of our regiment is its youth, and 12 of the 15 members are post-80s and post-90s. Most of them came to Tibet for the first time, and it was the first time they came to Ali, with an average altitude of more than 4500 meters. Li Zhijing said.

When he learned that he was selected for the fifth batch of technical aid to Afghanistan, Li Liangliang, a senior engineer at the Water Strategy Research Department of the General Institute of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Planning and Design, was both excited and nervous. "This is my first time in Tibet, although I have also participated in the planning and strategic research related to water conservancy in Tibet, but I have never been to Ali, and I don't know if my body can adapt to the local environment quickly."

Ali is located in the southwest border of the motherland, known as "the plateau on the plateau" and "the roof of the roof of the world", there are more than 1,200 rivers and more than 200 natural lakes in the territory. As the birthplace of famous rivers such as the Brahmaputra, the Indus Andes, and the Ganges, Ali's precipitation is scarce and unevenly distributed, and the ecological environment is very fragile.

Doing a good job in the protection, development and utilization of water resources is extremely important to support the improvement of people's livelihood, economic development and ecological construction in Ali area. However, due to the special geographical environment, the current situation of economic and social development and other factors, local water conservancy professional and technical personnel have always been difficult to introduce and cannot be retained.

After coming to Ali, the members of the fifth batch of technical aid to Afghanistan have a more intuitive and deep understanding of this point.

Li Zhijing introduced that the Ali Regional Water Conservancy Bureau currently has only 1 senior engineer, and the construction and development of the water conservancy talent team is relatively lagging behind. After the arrival of the fifth batch of technical aid to Afghanistan, through the discussion and research, actively docking with the ali regional government departments, refining the key and difficult issues in the water conservancy work, listing the task list and giving full play to the advantages of the members of the delegation, and adopting the team research mode to divide and cooperate in various tasks.

Their work mainly involves key areas such as water conservancy planning, water administration and water resources, rural drinking water safety, river and lake management, and flood and drought disaster prevention. Taking the field of water conservancy planning as an example, the fifth batch of technical assistance to the Arab delegation revised and completed the first draft of the "14th Five-Year Plan" water conservancy planning idea report on the basis of the research on water conservancy development in Ali region, forming a database of key water conservancy projects in 8 aspects, providing solid support for promoting the ecological protection and sustainable development of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.

In accordance with the unified deployment of the Ministry of Water Resources, all localities are intensively carrying out the work of surveying the risks of flood and drought disasters. This work has high technical requirements and tight time requirements, which is undoubtedly a difficult task for the Ali region, which lacks professional and technical personnel.

"In response to this task, our delegation has set up a technical expert group to guide and check the implementation plan and related technical requirements, and at the same time, in the process of carrying out the work, we will popularize the technical methods of the preparation of flood inundation maps of small and medium-sized rivers and the preparation of flood disaster risk zoning maps to local staff." Li Zhijing introduced.

In addition, in the on-site inspection work of the Guozangbu River Control Project in Ali Geji County, the Sodomen River Control Project in Menshi Township, Gar County, and the Jiamu Flood Control Project in Gar County, the members of the regiment carefully explained and patiently answered questions, and taught new technologies and methods through "face-to-face and hand-to-hand" to help local technicians further improve their management level and problem-solving ability.

According to reports, since 2017, the Ministry of Water Resources has sent 5 groups and 103 technical backbones to the Ali region to carry out talent "group-style" technical assistance to Afghanistan, which has played an important role in promoting key water conservancy projects in Ali region, carrying out key work, and improving professional level.

Dong Zhangnei, born in 1991, is the youngest member of the fifth batch of technical aid to Afghanistan. Because of his work, he worked in the Panzhihua Branch of the Hydrological Upstream Bureau of the Yangtze River Commission and lived separately from his family for a long time.

Dong Zhangnei's lover is a teacher with a daughter of more than 1 year old, and the family can only be together in winter and summer vacations. This year's time to aid Afghanistan coincides with the summer vacation.

"Before coming, I discussed with my wife, and she said: 'If you want to go, it means that you won't see your daughter for the whole summer, but the opportunity to help Ah is very rare, and I will support you to go to exercise when you are young.'" Dong Zhang's inner eye circles were a little red.

Not only Dong Zhangnei, but also many members of the fifth batch of technical aid to Afghanistan, usually gathered less and more with their families. This year marks Dr. Li Zhijing's seventh year of working at the Institute of River Research of the Yangtze River Academy of Sciences after graduation. He calculated that on average, he was on a business trip for at least 100 days a year. "Water conservancy project construction sites are often in deep ditches and valleys, and the working environment and living environment are extremely difficult. All these years it was father-in-law and mother-in-law and lovers who took care of their sons and families. Li Zhijing said, "Choosing water conservancy is choosing dedication." ”

With an area of 345,000 square kilometers, Ali, with an average altitude of more than 4,500 meters, air pressure and oxygen content is less than 60% of the mainland, affected by changes in air pressure and reduced oxygen content, many people living in the interior will have nose bleeding, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, and even altitude sickness with headaches like wearing tight hoops.

When the fifth batch of technical aid missions went deep into the construction sites of Ali counties to conduct quality inspection and research guidance, they often had to sit in cars for more than 10 hours continuously. The winding mountain road is nineteen curves and eighteen bends, and people sit groggy on the car, and their stomachs turn over the river and the sea.

"Basically everyone came to Tibet for the first time, but also the first time to come to Ali, in order to ensure that the work is not delayed, everyone strives to overcome physical difficulties, so that 'hardship is not afraid of hardship, lack of oxygen is not lack of spirit, high altitude is higher'." Li Zhijing said.

Although the work is arduous, some warm pictures have also remained in the hearts of the Aid Afghans. One day, Li Liangming went to a village near the border to investigate flood control and water supply projects, and took a car from the county seat, and the mountain road was rugged and took most of the day.

After arriving at the destination, a Tibetan grandfather carried a hot water bottle and many paper cups and warmly beckoned the members of the working group to drink water. Although there was no verbal communication with the old master, Li Liangming still felt warm in his heart.

When Li Mingliang and his party left, the Tibetan masses who were building roads stopped their work and enthusiastically waved to the working group. "We also waved warmly and wished them 'Tashi Delek'. Seeing that the water conservancy project has guaranteed and improved the lives of Tibetan compatriots in the border areas, I am sincerely proud to be a water conservancy person. Li Liangming was excited.

Tang Ting Li Chenhe Source: China Youth Daily

Source: China Youth Daily