Two major rivers heavily polluted

Two major rivers remain heavily polluted despite more than a decade's efforts to clean them, posing a threat to the water safety of one sixth of the country's 1.3 billion population, a report showed yesterday.

More than half the water in the Huaihe River is highly polluted, said a report released by the environment and resources protection committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

Although the emission of chemical oxygen demand (COD), an important indicator of water pollution, in the Huaihe River has been decreasing since 2004, it was still about 83 percent above the target level last year.

The pollution threatens drinking water safety in cities along the river, as many of them draw from the river for their waterworks. For instance, the report said, only half the water taken from the river met the safety standard in Bengbu city of East China's Anhui Province from January to June this year.
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