Forty-three tons of rat poison have been laid to clear the Three Gorges reservoir area of rodents before water levels are raised to 156 meters later this month.

 

The poison was placed in early August over 78.4 million square meters, said sources from Chongqing Municipal Center of Diseases Control.

 

Workers collected 8,200 dead rodents and recovered 27.7 tons of bait in the second and last extermination campaign in the area. However, 30,000 mouse traps placed in 93 townships succeeded in trapping just 105 animals.

 

The water level behind the gigantic Three Gorges dam will rise to 156 meters from late September to early October.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2006)