Northwest China's Shaanxi province has fined the local governments of three cities for excessively discharging pollutants in the Weihe River, a major tributary of the country's second largest river, the Yellow River.

This is the first time the province has fined local governments directly over pollution, Xinhua quoted Li Xiaolian, deputy director of the Shaanxi provincial department of environmental protection, as saying on Sunday.

"We have punished Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, with a fine of 400,000 yuan ($58,910), and Xianyang and Baoji with 150,000 yuan each. All the three cities are located along the Weihe River," Li said.

The total amount of 700,000 yuan will be used as environmental compensation, he said.

The provincial environmental watchdog said it monitored the water quality in different sections of the Weihe River every month to check for pollutants.

The amount of fine levied on the three cities was in accordance with the monitoring and examination results in the first four months of this year.

Ren Yongfeng, deputy director of the Xi'an municipal environmental protection bureau, said that soon after receiving a notice of the fine, the local government figured the cause of the excessive discharge of pollutants and took measures to stop the pollution.

"We found two factories in our city discharging pollutants in the river and ordered them to stop production until they rectify the problem," Ren said.

The other two cities have also taken measures to control the excessive discharge of industrial pollutants and sewage into the river, which runs through the province along Baoji, Xianyang, Xi'an and Weinan, the four most important cities in the province.

The river provides water to about two-thirds of the province's population and farmlands, according to official figures.

In 2004, the provincial government issued a plan to control pollution in the Weihe River Basin, with the aim to decrease the pollution in the river within six years.

"The measures included in the plan have played a significant role, but Weihe River still suffers from serious pollution," Li said.

"We hope such punishments can make local governments pay more attention to the problem and, thus, make a difference."

Peng Xiaohong, a 58-year-old resident of Xianyang, said the fines will prompt local governments to take stricter measures to control polluting enterprises.

Shi Ying, deputy director of Shaanxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, said the fines are quite meager for the cities, but a precedent, nonetheless, that urges local governments to change its development mode.