Groundwater pollution arouses concern
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E-mail CRI Online, March 8, 2013
Water contamination has caught increasing attention among the Chinese public. Some have gone so far as to challenge local environmental officials to swim in a polluted river.
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Photo taken on Jan. 6, 2013 shows Zhuozhang River which is polluted by the aniline released from the Tianji Coal Chemical Industry Group in Changzhi, north China's Shanxi Province. [Xinhua] |
Ma Jun has been an active environmentalist for more than 10 years.
"About half of the surface water being monitored is polluted to some extent. And now some say 90 percent of the groundwater is contaminated as well. I think that refers to the shallow groundwater, which can be easily affected by the surface. The situation in the deep layer is better."
However, Ma adds that's nothing to be cheerful about.
"The water contamination in China is now expanding from the surface to the ground. It spreads from small spots to large areas. The latest data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection shows that by 2011, half of the water wells monitored in 200 cities are scaled as poor or very poor in quality."
Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei says the government is taking the issue seriously.
"We've drafted plans for preventing groundwater pollution. We're now working together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Land and Resources to crack down on illegal sewage discharges. People will have clean, trustworthy and safe water."
Many grassroots organizations are also getting actively involved in the cause.
For example, Ma and his Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs have set up a system to map water pollution sources. It can also provide information about the water quality and the sewage discharge situations.
"In China, nearly 300 million rural people can't have clean potable water every year. One of the main reasons for that is the groundwater pollution. It also affects the soil and causes problems for grain production."
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