Nanjing plants ignore warnings, pollute water
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 28, 2013
In yet another incident of environmental concern, seven factories in rural Nanjing dumped toxic waste into ditches and streams that run into the Yangtze River, environmental inspectors said.
 |
|
A river has turned dark green due to sewage discharged from nearby chemical plants in Nanjing's Qixia District. [File photo] |
They were given a May deadline to shut shop or move elsewhere. Instead, they continued operating without making any adjustments despite the warnings.
The factories generate high levels of heavy metals and toxic chemicals, posing severe risks to health after being dumped in unprocessed water.
Villagers said that nothing had changed and the factories operated round the clock, emitting a pungent odor and discharging mass unprocessed chemical waste.
The Yangtze Evening News reported yesterday that water in nearby areas had "dyed" into a variety of colors - white, dark, yellowish and dark green.
"Rats die immediately in this colored water," a local villager said. The report claimed that two fish released in the waters died within 10 minutes.
To make matters worse, mass contaminated water may have made its way into the Yangtze as villagers pumped the waste water into tidal-flat areas of the river to prevent farmlands and fish farms from getting contaminated.
Authorities did not say if the factories would be handed stricter punishments or they would be stopped from operating.
On March 22, marked as World Water Day, Chinese netizens and experts pressed for calls to fight severe water pollution in the country.
"Clean water and air are prerequisites for the survival of mankind. A responsible government will strictly protect the environment from being polluted," wrote a microblogger using the name "zhu'agong."
According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, underground water in 57 percent of monitoring sites across China is polluted or extremely polluted.
In addition, 298 million rural residents do not have access to safe drinking water, Xinhua news agency reported.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)