In north China's Hebei Province, an environmental protection official in Cangxian County was removed from his post in early April after his whitewashing of pollution infuriated netizens. Deng Lianjun was reported to have claimed that the red water in the wells of a local village was just like "rice with red beans," red but consumable.

Some people have even taken to the streets to protest projects that are deemed to pose threats to ecology where they live.

In Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, hundreds of residents demonstrated on May 10 and 16 over plans to install an oil refinery near the city. Although government officials said the project has passed feasibility studies and was approved by the country's top economic planner, residents still requested the plant be relocated.

MULTIPLE EFFORTS NEEDED

While environmental officials have been widely criticized over pollution cases, experts argue that environmental protection requires efforts from other sections of society too.

Zhu Bin, chief of Wenzhou City's environmental protection scientific institute, said river pollutants are related to industry, agriculture, animal husbandry, as well as residents' lives near the river, therefore efforts are needed from multiple parties to eradicate the problem.

Government authorities in planning, agriculture, industry, housing and construction are all involved in pollution control, which is a complicated systematic project, according to Zhu.

Jin Jun, deputy head of the Environmental Science Research and Design Institute of Zhejiang Province, said under the current administrative system, environmental protection departments have no right to guide or order other departments to join in environmental protection efforts

In this scenario, he added, the local CPC committee and governments at various levels should take the leading responsibility.

He also suggested that a system be established to severely punish those found responsible for polluting acts, explaining, "Currently, companies or individuals would rather take the risk of damaging the environment as it is much cheaper to pay the penalty than fund environmental protection technologies and facilities."

Residents themselves are also advised to show discipline on environmental protection.

"It is ridiculous to ask officials to swim in a polluted river, if the request is made by those who are polluting it," said Jin.