Yangtze River pollution 'irreversible'

Most of China's longest river, Yangzi, has been contaminated so badly that it cannot be saved. About 1 in 10 of this 6,200 km long river is in " critical " condition and about 30% of large branches are seriously polluted. Even the large reservoir created by the Three Gorges Dam has also stinked.

Billions of tons of garbage are discharged into Chinese rivers every year.(Photo: BBC)

This is the consequence that the Chinese environment suffers from the country's economic bomb. The government has pledged to clean Yangzi, the river that supplies water to about 200 cities along its banks and accounts for 35% of the country's freshwater production.

However, many argue that China's efforts to clean up contaminated lakes and basins are still hampered by environmental standards.

About 14 billion tons of waste is thought to flow into the river each year. The aquatic life here has been seriously affected, with catches falling from 427,000 tons in the 1950s to 100,000 tons in the 1990s.

The giant lake created by the Three Gorges Dam - the world's largest hydroelectric project - has also been heavily polluted by pesticides, fertilizers and waste from passenger ships.

"Human influence on the Yangtze River water ecosystem is irreversible in most of the basin," said Yang Guishan, from the Institute of Geography and Geography in Nanjing, who helped draft the report. .

T. An