A major environmental clean-up effort is being waged in the
provinces and regions along the Yellow River.
One of these provinces,
Gansu an inland northwestern province on the upper reaches of
the river will invest 4.97 billion yuan (US$612.8 million) during
the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) to control pollution and improve
river conditions, according to the province's environment
protection authority.
The Gansu section of the Yellow River stretches 913 kilometers
over four cities and prefectures. The cities of Lanzhou, capital of
the province, and Baiyin, both have a high density of heavy
industries discharging large quantities of pollutants into the
river, said Yang Zhiming, vice-governor of Gansu Province.
Added to this is some 237 million tons of sewage from the
province, which is pumped into the river each year, with only 34
percent of it receiving proper treatment.
The 4.97 billion yuan will be used for 199 environmental
projects in Gansu to assist heavy industries in decreasing
industrial pollutants, construction of urban sewage treatment
plants and the installation of supervision facilities to protect
the environment and ensure better water quality by 2010, Yang
said.
Following the Yangtze River, the Yellow River is the second
longest in China, spanning 5,464 kilometers across nine provinces
and regions from
Qinghai Province in northwest China into the eastern Bohai Sea
in
Shandong Province. It covers 752,000 square kilometers, an area
populated by more than 146 million people, or 11.5 percent of
China's total population, according to official statistics.
Rapid economic development and a growing urban population over
the past 30 years has taken its toll on the river. Without adequate
resources, pollution has worsened and measures to protect and
improve the river have not been taken effectively, said Luo Yongfu,
environment expert and professor at Chang' an University in Xi'an,
capital of
Shaanxi Province.
Luo called for a collaborative effort by all provinces and
regions along the river to control pollution.
"Otherwise, the improved section along the lower reaches of the
river may again be contaminated by pollutants from the upper
reaches," Luo said.
Gansu's neighboring province, Shaanxi located in the middle
reaches of the river also plans to curb pollution in its Weihe
River, the largest tributary of the Yellow River.
The Weihe River is the only channel for industrial waste and
sewage in central Shaanxi, according to He Fali, director of
Shaanxi Provincial Environmental Protection Department.
"Every year, the Weihe River receives 800 million tons of
industrial and urban sewage, one of the major pollution sources of
the Yellow River," He said.
The Shaanxi government will pour 4.5 billion yuan (US$554.8
million) over five years into cleaning up the Weihe River. It plans
to construct sewage treatment facilities, adjust industrial waste
infrastructure, develop ecological agriculture and high-tech
industries, and further protect surface and underground water
resources.
Similar measures and plans are in train for other provinces and
regions the
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,
Shanxi and
Henan provinces in the river's middle reaches, and Shandong
Province in its lower reaches.
(China Daily March 30, 2006)