Water conservancy workers in the northern port city of Tianjin has started dredging the Haihe River section to rid it of silt.

The city Tuesday kicked off a two-year major water pollution treatment project, to be carried out along an 18-km stretch of the river, according to Zheng Hongjun, an executive with Tianjin Municipal Water Conservancy Engineering Co. Ltd. The project is expected to remove 2.8 million cubic meters of silt.

The municipal water conservancy authorities has used state-of-the-art dredging facilities to speed up the project and minimize noise pollution.

The river's 105 km mainstream is joined by five rivers in northern China before emptying into the Bohai Bay. Dubbed as the "mother river" of Tianjin, the Haihe river plays a crucial role in the city's navigation, flood discharge, water storage and urban environment operations.

The river, nevertheless, is one of China's most polluted, due to excessive construction along its banks and constant climactic and hydrological changes over the years.

The dredging project constitutes the first substantial step of the municipal government's plan to turn the river into a most beautiful part of Tianjin.

Last year, the municipal government decided to build a commercial district featuring service industries such as recreational facilities and financial businesses along the river banks, to be followed by a "lush-green belt" depicting the superb Haihe River culture in three to five years.

(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2003)