The government of Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, will harness the watercourses of nine major rivers that empty into Dianchi Lake, the sixth largest freshwater lake in China.

This decision was made at a meeting held recently on treating pollutants in Dianchi Lake.

The harnessing is to cost 1 billion yuan and will be completed in five years. Work on this pollution control project will begin on three rivers soon and expand to six others later this year.

The famous Dianchi Lake, on a high plateau which covers 307 square kilometers, plays a key role in balancing the environment in Kunming. It is the source of drinking water for local residentsand one of the best known tourist spots in the country.

However, the lake's water has become murky because of the industrial and domestic waste discharged into it over the last 20 years, and fast-increasing algae, whose growth is encouraged by the chemicals and warm water from sewage and factories, is also clogging it up.

In 1997, the Chinese government listed Dianchi Lake as one of the key projects to be tackled in the "three rivers and three lakes" (Liaohe, Huaihe and Haihe rivers and Taihu, Chaohu and Dianchi lakes) project.

The city mayor Zhang Zhenguo said the comprehensive treatment of Dianchi Lake will serve the purpose of blocking sewage, diverting clean water into the lake and building a benign ecological system in the region.

(eastday.com November 7, 2001)