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September 22, 2015

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Home » District » Minhang

Snags arise in cleaning up ‘severely polluted’ river

A plan for cleaning up the polluted Yaodungang River in Huacao Town has been slow to get off the ground because of what local officials described as “difficulties.”

Earlier this month, Shanghai environmental protection authorities urged districts to adopt plans for cleaning up 24 “black and smelly” waterways by the end of 2017.

Yaodungang River, stretching between the Heshangpu area and Suzhou Creek, was on the list. The river, more than 3 kilometers long, is dark green from household garbage floating in it. According to an inspection carried out by the Shanghai Environment Protection Bureau, the dissolved oxygen in the water was lower than 2 milligrams per liter, which means the river ranks as “severely polluted.”

More than 6,000 people live along the river, and much of their sewage is directly discharged into the waterway.

“The villages along the river have been there for a long time, and former sewage-treatment plans didn’t take them into account,” said Shen Qing, deputy director of Huacao.

According to the Minhang District Waters Bureau, the river relies on Suzhou Creek to push its own water into the Huangpu River. But the creek’s small tide levels aren’t strong enough to do that. Besides, Jimei Road bisects the river, worsening water circulation.

The town said it has made a detailed inspection along the river. It found illegal construction covering about 5,000 square meters. As part of the river cleanup, the illegal structures will have to be removed.

“In the long term, we need a new management plan for the villages along the river,” said Shen.

The town recently cleared some garbage, weeds and branches from the water and closed two bathhouses to reduce the sewage discharge.

A detailed treatment plan will be announced by the end of the month.




 

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