92,000 resettled for water diversion Updated: 2011-12-20 17:57 (Xinhua)

DANJIANGKOU, Hubei - The resettlement of about 92,000 residents was completed Tuesday in central Hubei province, making way for the middle route of the country's south-north water diversion project, according to local authorities.

The last batch of residents in Hubei around the Danjiangkou Reservoir, a source of the south-north water diversion project's middle route, moved to new communities Tuesday.

The south-north water diversion project is set to commence operation in 2014.

The migrants are mostly residents from the banks of the Danjiangkou Reservoir, which forms the border between Hubei and Henan provinces. The construction of the middle route involved the relocation of 330,000 people from the two provinces.

The relocated residents, whose homes will be submerged after the project is completed, have settled in new communities in other parts of the two provinces.

The massive south-north water diversion project is designed to take water from China's longest river, the Yangtze, to feed the drought-prone areas in the north, including Beijing. Water will flow northward via three routes - an eastern route, a middle route, and a western route.

The project started with the construction of the eastern route in 2002. The construction of the middle route followed in 2003. Pre-construction evaluations of the western route will begin soon.