All potential pollution sources, such as factories and cattle
farms, will be removed from a preservation area around Shanghai's
main tap-water source to prevent accidents from shutting down the
water system, as has happened in a few Chinese cities over the past
year.
The campaign will begin with a thorough investigation of the
area, to see how much sewage is produced and how many factories,
cattle and poultry farms are located in the nearly
560-square-kilometer area, according to the Shanghai Environmental
Protection Bureau.
Sun Jian, vice director of the bureau, was quoted by the local
Shanghai Daily as saying that all pollution sources in the
46-square-kilometer first-class water preservation area will be
shut down. The area is located on the upper reaches of the Huangpu
River, which supplies about 70 percent of the city's tap water.
The city first enacted laws to protect the water source in the
1980s and then expanded the protected area in 1999, banning the
discharge of sewage.
Despite the ban, several companies that are potential sources of
pollution are still located in the area. Bureau officials said some
companies registered as acceptable businesses, and then switched
operations without reporting to authorities.
Some large factories, including chemical plants, also exist in
the zone, officials said.
A bureau environmental bulletin published last year stated that
water quality near the Songpu Bridge area is unsatisfactory.
Pollution from a chemical plant explosion along the Songhua
River in northeastern China forced the city of Harbin to shut down
its tap-water supply for five days last November.
(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2006)