Top officials in the city which was affected bywater pollution
last year after a chemical spill have pledged supplies are all
clean for the formal start of its annual month-long ice and snow
gala yesterday.
A chemical plant blast on November 13 in northeast China's Jilin
Province contaminated the Songhua River, disrupting the normal life
of millions of people living along the riverbank downstream.
Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, with an urban
population of nearly 4 million, heavily relies on the river as its
water source.
It was forced to cut off the city's water supply for four days
to wait for the toxic slick in the river to pass by from November
23 to 27.
Many had questioned whether there would be any toxic residues
left in the river and if the city's snow extravaganza, which
consumes tons of ice and snow, would be affected.
"I can guarantee that the ice and snow we have used for the
festival is safe and clean," said Du Yuxin, Secretary of Harbin
Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.
He said the arrival in Harbin of the toxic slick in the river
coincided with the low water time of the river, when the main
tributary and its branch were already separated.
He explained water used in the ice sculptures were all extracted
from the branch river, so the water quality was not affected.
In order to ensure its quality, the local environment protection
bureau had also checked it and found no toxic chemical pollutants
at all, he added.
"I believe there is nothing to worry about and no need for
visitors from both home and abroad to eliminate Harbin from their
touring schedule," he said.
Du said there had been a huge increase in the number of visitors
to the city last year.
Eighteen million tourists from home and abroad visited Harbin in
2005, a rise of about 2 million from 2004, bringing in an income of
around 12 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion).
Among them were about 200,000 foreigners, with Russian tourists
accounting for 80 percent of the figure.
"The water pollution incident has not hit the tourists' passion
to enjoy the ice gala this year," he said.
Some 2,000 tourists from Russia spent the New Year in Harbin, he
claimed. The year 2006 has been named as the Year of Russia in
China. The city's ice gala contains Russian features to mark the
occasion.
(China Daily January 6, 2006)