South China river polluted with cadmium spill
By Liang Qiwen (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-22 06:22

The government has announced that it would discharge more than 700 million cubic metres of water from Nanshui Reservoir in Shaoguan, and said the diluted water would be safe to drink.

To ensure water safety in the lower reaches of the river, the provincial government yesterday ordered Guangzhou and Foshan cities to activate emergency response schemes.

Environmental protection departments have also asked 20 water testing stations in Shaoguan, Yingde and Qingyuan along the river to monitor the slick.

Local residents get water from a  fire truck in Shaoguan, South China's Guangdong Province December 21, 2005. [Xinhua]

The local government in Yingde stopped water supply to one district for several hours on Tuesday, but supply was normal in the other three districts.

Also on Tuesday, Zhang Lijun, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, arrived in Yingde a city with 100,000 residents downstream of Shaoguan to inspect the situation.

It is the second major water pollution China has suffered in less than two months.

On November 13, a chemical plant blast caused the leakage of 100 tons of benzene and its derivatives into the Songhua River in Northeast China, forcing cities along the river to suspend water supply for days.

Chinese workers are working round the clock to build a dam to reduce the impact of the water pollution on the neighbouring Russian city of Khabarovsk.