Beijing announced on Sunday that it will start a weeklong
campaign to inspect incidents of water wastage around the capital
and to remind citizens about conservation measures.
A Beijing city management and law-enforcement bureau official
said the campaign, taking place between Nov. 19 and Nov. 25, was
aimed at discovering whether water-guzzling companies and
construction sites were consuming water within their set quota.
Checks against wastage activities in hotels, carwashes and bathing
facilities, among others, will also be conducted.
Illegal dumping of waste-water into lakes and rivers is another
area to be examined.
The bureau has already set up a "96310" hotline for citizens to
make reports on water-wasting activities, and is sending its staff
into the field to promote conservation in companies, institutions
and private households.
In 2006, the bureau recorded 763 cases of water wastage and
levied about 2.2 million yuan (US$296,356) in fines.
Beijing has reason to be thrifty as its per capita freshwater
resource is only 300 cubic meters, about one-eighth the national
average.
As host of next year's Summer Olympics, it was announced in May
that 400 million cubic meters of water would be diverted annually
from neighboring Hebei Province to safeguard the city's water
supply for the Games.
The amount is about one-ninth of Beijing's 2006 water
consumption of 3.43 billion cubic meters.
In October, the city earmarked 100 million yuan (US$12.8
million) to prevent water pollution and foster water saving in
Zhangjiakou and Chengde. Water from the two Hebei Province cities
feed two major Beijing drinking water sources, the Miyun and
Guanting reservoirs.
Also last month, Beijing's northeastern Shunyi District
government completed the construction of a pipeline to divert water
from a river to boost the water supply around the Olympic rowing
and canoeing venue.
(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2007)
