Two major rivers remain heavily polluted despite more than a
decade's efforts to clean them, posing a threat to the water safety
of one sixth of the country's 1.3 billion population, a report
showed yesterday.
More than half the water in the Huaihe River is highly polluted,
said a report released by the environment and resources protection
committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).
Although the emission of chemical oxygen demand (COD), an
important indicator of water pollution, in the Huaihe River has
been decreasing since 2004, it was still about 83 percent above the
target level last year.
The pollution threatens drinking water safety in cities along
the river, as many of them draw from the river for their
waterworks. For instance, the report said, only half the water
taken from the river met the safety standard in Bengbu city of east
China's Anhui Province from January to June this
year.
The report also showed that 80 percent of the groundwater as
deep as 50 meters along the Huaihe River is seriously polluted.
Pollution in the Huaihe River poses a threat to the huge project
to divert water from the south to the north, the report warned.
"The water diversion will start next year. If the situation
continues, the water quality cannot be ensured," committee Chairman
Mao Rubai said when delivering a report to the NPC Standing
Committee.
The picture in northeast China's Liaohe River is equally bleak:
About half of the river is severely polluted. COD emissions into
the river have been on a steady increase since 2001, and the figure
was about 76 percent above the target level last year, the report
showed.
"As the river goes into the Bohai Sea, the pollution poses a
direct threat to sea water quality," Mao said.
He said cities along the two rivers were both "victims" and
"creators" of the pollution.
According to the report, about 40 percent of sewage from
Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan, goes into a main
tributary of the Huaihe River without being properly treated. The
situation is even worse in eight cities in Anhui Province where
half the sewage is directly discharged into the river.
In Shenyang, capital city of the northeastern Liaoning Province, 400,000 tons of sewage is
released into a major tributary of the Liaohe River every day.
Mao said insufficient funding is to blame. He said according to
the fiscal plan from 2000 to 2005, governments at all levels should
have earmarked 44 billion yuan (US$5.8 billion) to clean the two
rivers, but only about half the amount was allocated.
The central government has also promised 150 billion yuan (US$20
billion) for the construction of sewage work treatment plants in
urban areas from last year to 2010, but so far only one-fifth has
been allotted.
Mao said apart from the funds already promised, his committee
suggests the central government allocate at least an additional 30
to 40 billion yuan (US$4 to 5 billion) a year to help improve water
pollution.
(China Daily August 27, 2007)
