East China's Anhui province plans to spend 12.9 billion yuan (US$1.55 billion) before 2005 to reduce water pollution, provincial sources reported Tuesday.
About 5.42 billion yuan will be used to reduce water pollution in the Anhui area of the Huaihe River Valley, and 4.86 billion yuan in the Lake Caohu valley area. Both are among the most heavily polluted bodies of freshwater in the country.
The massive expenditure will be injected into 128 projects which will mainly to assist major polluting industrial companies reduce the discharge of industrial waste liquids and to build waste water treatment plants.
Provincial officials said 18 waste water treatment plants will be built in the Anhui area of the river valley, and 13 in Lake Caohu Valley area.
The province also plans to plant more trees to improve the local environment, to step up development of ecological farming, and to cut the overall volume of farm waste water discharges.
With loans from the Asian Development Bank, Anhui Province will spend 2.65 billion yuan on nine projects to curb acid rain which a provincial environmental official says will enable the province to improve the quality of its water.
(China Daily April 16, 2002)
