An underground rubbish processing and transferring station with an above ground garden will be completed in Shanghai in June, the China Daily reported Wednesday.

It will be China's first urban sunken rubbish transfer station, announced the local authorities Tuesday.

Located on the bank of Suzhou Creek in the downtown Jing'an District, the station will be able to handle more than 400 tons of urban refuse each day, said Wu Hai from the district government.

Meanwhile, a 4,900-square-meter garden will be built on the site of the current rubbish station.

The project is part of a city government push to rehabilitate the environment along Suzhou Creek.

Besides, more than a dozen other rubbish dumps along the river will also be cleaned or moved underground and covered by above ground gardens, according to Wu.

Shanghai used to transport its urban rubbish along Suzhou Creek with boats to the suburbs to go into landfill or to be incinerated. The rubbish transfer stations were established along the river, which posed serious pollution problems.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2003)