Chongqing Discourages dumping Bone Ashes in RiverThe government of this municipality in southwest China has appealed to its citizens not to dump bone ash into the Yangtze River."Bone ash pollutes the river," said Zeng Guangming, a civil affairs official with the municipal government. Zeng said that although dumping of bone ash into the sea or rivers is a form of burial advocated by the central government to save wasting arable land, it is not suitable in Chongqing, which is at the lower end of the 600-km-long Three Gorges Reservoir, which is now under construction. The reservoir will store water and generate electricity by the year 2003, when the speed of the current will slow down, making it easier for pollutants to stagnate in the world's third-largest river. The official said that it should be quite satisfactory to bury bone ash under trees or place urns in towers. He urged Chongqing citizens to follow the example of the city of Harbin in northeast China, where a number of people have sprayed bone ash of their deceased relatives over flower beds. |
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