BEIJING: From a murky, stinky river to a new home to fish and plants, Beijing’s, which has a history of over 1,400 years, experienced a transformation over the past nine years.
The 68.41-km-long river runs through seven districts in the Chinese capital before flowing into the Grand Canal, the world’s longest artificial waterway. Since authorities in Beijing started a campaign to tackle pollution in rivers in 2013, the Liangshui River has regained vitality and attraction to residents.
At a section of the river in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, residents now enjoy the clean water and beautiful scenery all year round.
“I cycle along the Liangshui River for about an hour every day. Only a few years ago, it was so smelly that nobody wanted to go near the water, especially in summer,” said a resident surnamed Huang, who lives on the north bank of the river.
In 2016, when Xinhua reporters visited the Xiaolong River, a tributary of Liangshui, it was full of floating garbage.
“For quite a long time, sewage treatment facilities could not keep up with the pace of population growth near the river,” said Chang Song, a station head with the Liangshui River management office.” A large amount of domestic and industrial sewage was dumped into the river, causing severe damage to the ecosystem.”
The Beijing Water Authority reckoned they first needed to enhance the sewage treatment capacity to improve the water quality. –Agencies
