Great Wall of China 'crumbling due to illegal mining'

Beijing, Oct 14 (ANI): Parts of China's famous Great Wall are reportedly being damaged due to illegal mining for minerals.

At one wild section in Laiyuan county in North China's Hebei province, the wall has completely crumbled due to people carrying out night operations to steal reserves of iron, copper, molybdenum and nickel that are buried along a 150 kilometer stretch of the famous landmark, the China Daily reports.

A survey has revealed that over 80 percent of the Great Wall in Hebei province is in bad shape due to tourism and inappropriate infrastructure, but it is the illegal mining that is causing the most damage to the site.

"We have no idea how many enterprises are engaged in the mining along the Great Wall site. The cultural heritage department has no knowledge of the specific information on the passages in the mining, either," the paper quoted an engineer from the Hebei provincial ancient architecture protection institution, as saying. e claims that the government should play a more active role in protecting the Great Wall.

"Because of the remote location and the length of the Great Wall, its protection needs the attention and support from the local government, who we suggest deploy more personnel and increase the financial assistance," he added. (ANI)