Some houses in the disaster areas are still standing,but are damaged beyound repair and will have to be torn down. In remote places inaccessible to heavy machinery, demolition has to be done by hand.
Demolishing homes is not as easy as one may think. After some extensive efforts, the house is still standing. This is the 62nd house that Lieutenant Colonel Ma Yuehua and his team of 70 have to tear down. The order is to pull down about 200 in a month's time. And he must be sure procedures are strictly followed.
On-site commander LT. Colonel Ma Yuehua said, " Locals need a written application to tear down their houses. We can start only after the local government has approved the application. The first thing to do in our operation is to cordon off the area so that there will be no unexpected injuries. And second, the commanders will check into the house's structure and find out where the dangers are. Then the demolition begins."
The last wall of this house will stand as the owner wanted, and it will offer protection for the courtyard. It has been deemed safe after a thorough inspection. Local officials have removed the villagers out of safety concern.
Local official Yang Libo said, "We are very satisfied with the soldiers' work. The last few days they were here, it was very hot. Villagers sent water and melons for them but they took nothing."
At nearly lunch time, the work at this house is almost finished. To speed up the operation, Lieutenant Colonel Ma Yuehua split his team in two. The order is to finish this village in a month's time. But he is urging his soldiers to do this in twenty days because he feels there must be something else that is equally urgent in the disaster areas.
(CCTV June 14, 2008)