During the ongoing Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress, deputies called for government at all levels to invest in decontaminating the Xiangjiang, a river in central China's Hunan Province which has been severely polluted by heavy-metals for decades.

The first-stage Chengxi Sewage Treatment Plant in Hengyang, Hunan Province was put into operation in March, 2008 with a daily sewage treatment capacity of 150,000 tons. It is the first sewage treatment plant in the city. Previously, about 400,000 tons of waste were discharged directly into the Xiangjiang River every day. [Photo from www.rednet.com.cn]

"Heavy metal contamination in the water has long been a burden to the province's economic development and must move to the top of the government's list of priorities," said a group of NPC deputies.

The Xiangjiang is one of the main branches in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. As the "mother river" on which the people of Hunan are heavily dependent, it has become a "severe disaster area" in terms of environmental pollution. Large numbers of old enterprises, involving nonferrous metal, chemical, and mineral processing, sit along the river's banks and have generated heavy pollution of its waters.

Over the past few years, local governments have taken a series of measures to reign in environmental pollution in the area, including more than 12 billion yuan (US$1.75 billion) invested in ecological infrastructure in the province's 10th Five-Year Plan (2000-2005), and further investment in a plan for the treatment and removal of cadmium in Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan cities in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010).

In an effort to reinforce discipline, a total of 180 polluting enterprises were outlawed and closed down in the province last year, and more than 200 industrial operations were given a specific deadline either to bring processes under control or cease production altogether.

Liu Xiaowu, an NPC deputy, explained that heavy-metal contamination of the river's waters results from a number of specific historical sources, saying that in spite of the reinforcement of control measures over the past years, severe problems like lack of funds and sub-optimal industrial structure and distribution remain to be addressed.

"If we don't take quick and effective measures to resolve the problem, the scale of pollution will reach levels that will endanger the ecological environment of the Yangtze River and threaten sustainable development," said Liu.

Other deputies appealed to the government to classify the elimination of heavy-metal contamination in the river as a key project in tackling the country's long-standing problems of industrial pollution. They suggest relevant departments draw up a comprehensive environmental plan for the river, and allocate special funds to waste disposal, land restoration, and relocation of polluting enterprises in the area.

(China.org.cn by Li Jingrong, March 9, 2009)