After decades of reckless coal mining and lax enforcement of environmental legislation , 655,000 people in the Shanxi province in northern China will be displaced by the end of 2017 , at a cost of 15.8bn yuan ( £ 1.7bn ) as villages begin to sink and houses subside . Shanxi province have been evacuated as villages next to mines have started sinking, after decades of reckless coal mining Many villages have already been abandoned , deemed too unsafe , while residents in cities shore up walls with tree trunks and attempt to fill the holes caused by years of irresponsible mining processes . China is expected to close 1,000 mines in 2016 alone .
After decades of reckless coal mining and lax enforcement of environmental legislation , 655,000 people in the Shanxi province in northern China will be displaced by the end of 2017 , at a cost of 15.8bn yuan ( £ 1.7bn ) as villages begin to sink and houses subside . Many villages have already been abandoned , deemed too unsafe , while residents in cities shore up walls with tree trunks and attempt to fill the holes caused by years of irresponsible mining processes . China is expected to close 1,000 mines in 2016 alone .