Housing Project for Tibetan Farmers and Herders

The largest housing project in the history of Tibet Autonomous Region, launched in 2006, has built or renovated homes for 1.4 million farmers and herders in the area, at a total investment of RMB 17 billion. It is scheduled to cover another 185,500 Tibetan households in the coming three years. The project, known as "Safe and Cozy Homes," is accompanied by efforts to extend tap water, electricity, paved roads, telecommunications, natural gas, TV/radio, postal services and green coverage in the region's countryside. Over the past five years 159 more Tibetan towns and 1,659 more villages have gained access to paved roads, the number of electricity users has grown by 740,000, and safe drinking water has reached 952,400 more people. The coverage of telephone and TV/radio signals now stands at 90.28 percent and 91.41 percent respectively, and 135,000 rural households are now cooking with biogas.