Authorities in Qibao Town, Minhang District in Shanghai, said they are waiting for approval from the district government to begin a multimillion yuan program to clean up Tangjiabang river.

The waterway is notorious for its foul stench, thepaper.cn reported yesterday.

Han Min, director of the town's water affairs bureau, was quoted as saying that plans are in place to clean up the heavily polluted river, but that they have yet to be given the go-ahead.

The program will include the demolition of a shanty town that has grown up in the area over the past seven years, he said.

Due to a lack of an effective sewerage system — officials have in the past claimed that it was damaged during the construction of the ramshackle homes — residents have had little option but to dump their household waste into the river.

Han said that a number of temporary measures were already being taken to clean the river, though did not mention what would happen to the occupants of the homes slated for demolition.

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