Chinese government will get a loan of US$150 million from the World Bank to tackle industrial wastewater in some cities of north China’s Hebei Province.
At the same time, Hebei will provide US$140 million in counterpart funding for Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital, Handan and Tangshan to increase water supply and reduce water pollution in the three cities.
The projects will benefit a population of 2.9 million, sources said.
Hebei Province, an agricultural giant of China, is suffering from a serious water shortage due to excessive use of underground water sources in the past.
Experts said that Hebei will not have enough water to feed its population and for industrial and agricultural use in 10 to 15 years if something is not done about it.
What’s even worse is that over 60 percent of the province’s sources of surface water and underground water in urban areas and mining fields have been polluted.
Experts ask the local government to set up operational mechanism of rational use of water resources and improve the existing water resources management so as to guarantee sustainable use of water sources in the province.
(People’s Daily 01/04/2001)
