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)