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November 15, 2016

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Home » District » Songjiang

Vision for our future is pristine

SONGJIANG wants to mark its future as a district with green hills, clean water and fresh air. And it wants that ecological vision to become reality by 2020.

It has a leg up as home to Shanghai’s only natural forest. The Sheshan Hill National Forest Resort, with a range of 12 peaks that stretch 13.2 kilometers, is home to 1,000 plants and a wide range of wild animals.

In the next five years, a green axis, with the resort at its core, will be constructed. It will link nearby Tianma Hill and the Chenshan Botanic Garden. At the same time, commercial land development is being strictly limited, giving more space to greenbelts and public facilities.

In future, the 10.88-square-kilometer forest resort will have natural scenery such as the Sheshan Hill, Yuehu Lake and Chenshan Hill, co-existing with cultural spots like the Sheshan Cathedral and Songjiang Observatory.

The entertainment destinations of Happy Valley, Tianma Hill Race Circuit and a golf course aren’t far off.

To achieve its green vision, the district is stepping up the campaign to clean up polluted waterways.

By the end of 2017, Songjiang will treat 26 heavily polluted rivers, dredge more than 100 stagnant canals and remove about 550,000 square meters of illegal structures built along riverbanks.

The starting point is the noxious Xiaolaigang River. The polluted, smelly waterway, which is eight kilometers long, runs through the Minhang, Qingpu and Songjiang districts. In the Songjiang portion, 30,000 square meters of illegal structures responsible for much of the pollution will be dismantled later this month.

By 2020, the river’s water is expected to attain city and national standards.

The Songjiang government has initiated a “river director” system. Under the plan, one senior official takes charge of one river to be treated.

The system will also provide a measure of the officials’ performances.

In addition, Songjiang’s seven sewage treatment plants will be renovated by the end of next year, and a sewage pipe project that benefits 6,000 village households will be completed by 2020.

Enterprises that create high pollution levels will be forced to shut. So far, more than 1,000 polluting factories have been closed, 62 percent of them located in protected zones of drinking water sources.

Companies with high energy consumption and low output are also on the chopping block unless they adjust their operations.

In the next five years, an estimated 950 high-polluting companies in Songjiang are expected to be closed.

More land will be freed up to develop ecological agriculture.

In Xiaokunshan Town, a 667-hectare experimental rice paddy is being created. It’s a Shanghai pilot project that will utilize modern agricultural technology and green husbandry.

Along the upper reaches of the Huangpu River, a zone protecting the city’s drinking-water supply, farmers are encouraged to use organic mulching methods instead of chemical fertilizers.




 

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