While the water still smells a bit rank, the odor fades as ships sail further into Dianchi Lake. Two Dutch-made dredges are anchored nearby, busily pumping silt from the bottom of the lake.

"It smells better than it did when I visited here four years ago," said Zhe Fu, a Chinese writer who is known for his works on environmental protection. "It was too stinky to endure at that time."

Dianchi Lake, which is located in Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, is the source of drinking water for local residents in the provincial capital and one of the best known tourist spots in the country. But local residents are now no longer drinking water from the lake, while local tourism industry had been hampered by the worsening local environment until recent years.

"It is the responsibility for of residents as well as the people of the whole province and the whole country to protect Dianchi Lake," said Deputy-Governor Chen Xunru.

Over the past few years, the city has launched a series of environmental projects with the financial support of the central government, including four sewage treatment plants with a daily capacity of 365,000 tons, or 60 percent of the city's daily sewage discharge. So far, over four billion yuan has been spent to deal with the pollution in the lake.

According to local officials, the city is now using World Bank loans to build four other sewage treatment plants and rebuild the No.1 Sewage Treatment Plant and the city's sewage piping network. By June 2002, the plants will be able to daily handle 585,000 tons of sewage, or over 80 percent of the total.

As one of the measures to reduce pollution of the lake, the local government has banned the sale and use of phosphor-based washing power throughout city.

(People's Daily 08/05/2001)