Local officials’ performance in reducing water
pollution has become a criterion in the annual evaluation of their
work after the mayors of ten cities along a seriously contaminated
river and lake signed pledges yesterday with the provincial
government of Anhui.
District and county level officials will in turn
make similar pledges to city governments concerning water pollution
in their jurisdictions, and the mayors said achievements in this
area would be a major factor in decisions over promotions and
rewards.
Pollution in the Huaihe, one of China's largest
rivers, raised alarm amongst governments and environmentalists last
year.
In October, four provinces along it, Jiangsu,
Anhui, Shandong
and Henan,
signed a pledge to the State Environmental Protection
Administration to cut pollution levels.
Chaohu, one of the country's five largest
freshwater lakes, has also been troubled with deteriorating water
quality in recent years.
Eight of the ten cities involved (Huaibei, Bozhou,
Suzhou, Bengbu, Fuyang, Huainan, Chuzhou and Liu'an) are located
alongside the Huaihe. The other two (Chaohu and the provincial
capital Hefei) are in the lake’s drainage basin.
The cities pledged to reduce the flow of chemical
pollutants into the river and lake and to upgrade sewage treatment
facilities and capabilities.
They also promised to close more than 100 small
paper mills, major sources of pollution, by the end of this
year.
The Huaihe supplies water for around 165 million
people in Henan, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces in central and
east China.
Central government launched a clean-up campaign for
the river ten years ago but the pollution there remains grave.
(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2005)