Recently, Zhengzhou City in Henan Province was flooded again, with the riverbank of Jinshui River experiencing slope protection collapse and damage to the walkway. However, the comprehensive renovation project of Jinshui River, which cost 2.5 billion yuan (RMB), was completed in just about half a year. The public denounced it as a “shoddy project”.
On July 8th, Zhengzhou was flooded, with water accumulating in the urban area reaching nearly 1 meter deep, submerging half of the vehicle bodies on Zhongzhou Avenue in Jinshui District. Cars were stranded in the water.
According to reports, on July 8th, a section of the riverbank along Jinshui River in Zhengzhou collapsed, and another section of the walkway and guardrail was damaged. On the morning of July 9th, a collapsed area approximately 5 meters long and 4 meters wide appeared at the junction of Jinshui River and Zijing Mountain Road in Zhengzhou. Mud slid onto the walkway and river below, washing away the tiles and the guardrail of the walkway below.
Witnesses stated that around 4 pm on July 8th, they saw the collapse suddenly occur, with a large amount of mud flowing into the river. At that time, the water level in the river was high, but it did not reach the collapsed area.
A plaque at the collapsed site indicated that it was part of the fifth section (Zijing Mountain Road to Dongfeng Canal) of the comprehensive renovation project of Jinshui River, which is 5.6 kilometers long and was completed on December 15, 2023.
The report mentioned that officials from Zhengzhou Water Resources Bureau blamed the management of Jinshui River on the Municipal Urban Management Bureau. However, the urban management bureau staff stated that the management of the Jinshui River renovation project is currently under the responsibility of the Municipal Urban and Rural Construction Bureau and has not yet been transferred to urban management. Zhengzhou Municipal Urban and Rural Construction Bureau did not respond to enquiries.
Last July, the news of Zhengzhou spending 3.4 billion yuan to tile 22 kilometers of Jinshui River caused a stir on the internet. The command center of Zhengzhou Jinshui River Comprehensive Renovation Project reported that the total cost of tiling the river with granite was approximately 6.5 million yuan. By the end of 2023, the comprehensive renovation investment in Jinshui River reached 25.33 billion yuan.
This means that from the completion of the project to the recent collapse of the Jinshui River, only half a year has passed. The public questioned whether this was a shoddy project, spending so much money for such poor quality. A real waste of money and harm to the people!
Informed citizens commented, “It has been left unfinished for some time now. I live near this riverbank, and the funding has been delayed from the time of the epidemic until now. Construction has been halted for a year, and there has been no acceptance inspection yet. I heard at the bathhouse nearby that the funds for the construction site have been in arrears, with no one providing the necessary backing. The project is considered half-finished, and the government wants the developers to provide the funds first, but since they don’t have the money, they are just dragging it out, waiting for when the money is completely allocated to start working.”
Another netizen remarked, “It will only get worse, you know.” “These issues just keep piling up.” “If this money was spent on river management, it wouldn’t collapse within half a year. Layer upon layer of corruption in one project, with less than 30% of the actual funds being utilized for the project.” “Highways cost 10 million yuan per kilometer, so with 3.4 billion yuan, you could fix 340 kilometers. How long is this Jinshui River? Can it still collapse if repaired according to highway standards?” “We’ve seen plenty of shoddy projects, but this is the first time I’ve seen one collapse within half a year.”