West Municipality Stresses Pollution ControlThe mega city in southwest China Chongqing has intensified its efforts to control pollution by shutting down four industrial polluting sources on December 15 in the city.The four polluting sources that were closed down were an old cement mill, an asphalt refinery, a chemical pulp manufacturing workshop of a copperplate paper mill and two old generator units of the Chongqing Power Plant. Situated in the upper reach areas of the Yangtze River, China's largest, Chongqing has long been famous for its long-term foggy weather all year around. Foggy weather makes frequent appearances in the city due to huge daily emissions of industrial soot and dust, which intermingle with rich vapor rising from two rivers, the Yangtze and its tributary Jialing River confluent at Chongqing. In recent years, the city's government issued the Chongqing Environment Protection Regulation, the Regulation on Controlling Pollution by Coal and Sulfur Dioxide and other pollution-control regulations. "Although these old enterprises had made significant contributions to local economic development, they must have to be closed down to reduce industrial pollution and improve the city's ecological environment," Bao Xuding, mayor of the city, said. Chongqing is one of major cities in the Three Gorges Reservoir, the world's largest, which is under construction. It is essential for the city to improve its environment in order to be a "garden- like" city, the mayor added. |
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