Fish Return to River That Stank for 80 YearsFish have returned to the Suzhou River in this largest metropolis and industrial base of China.The river is 125 km long, including a 23.8 km-long section passing through the urban area of Shanghai. As one of the most deplorable results of the city's industrialization in the 20th century, the notorious river had forced those living on its banks to close their windows all the year round to keep away the nauseating smells it exuded until recently. It was once a clean river and a source of drinking water, and a nice site for summer swimming, recalled some aged people. But since 1920, as the pace of industrialization was speeded up, the river became foul. In 1928, the city's drinking water plant was forced to be relocated. By 1978, the river had become completely polluted. The polluted river had hampering the development and opening-up of the city. In 1988, the city launched the 8.65-billion-yuan first phase of a project to control the pollution and improve the water quality of the river. Jiang Zemin, who is now state president and was then mayor of Shanghai, wrote down his pledge, " Be determined to put the Suzhou River well under control." The first phase included 10 projects to improve the quality of the river water, the environment on the banks and of neighboring rivers, and was aimed at dealing with the two main causes of the pollution -- the inflow of polluted water in large quantities, and the slow pace of the river flow. The efforts have paid off. In June 2000, the river stopped stinking, and by August 2000, larvae and fish returned to the river for the first time since the 1980s. According to an integrated control program, which was adopted by the city government in 1998, by 2010 the water quality of the river as a whole, as well as that of the Huangpu River, will be improved so that the river is expected to be a pleasant home for fish and a beautiful location for local residents once more. |
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