Dead fishes at emperor's garden in Beijing triggers environment concern
27/8/2007 16:12
Thousands of fishes were found dead in a river at Beijing's old Summer
Palace, known to locals as Yuanmingyuan Park, over the weekend, warning the city
of its environment worries ahead of next year's Olympic Games.
Nearly 10,000
dead fish were seen floating in a 200-meter long river that flows into the "Sea
of Happiness", a 28-hectare artificial lake thus named to pray the emperors may
live happily till "all the seas gone dry".
The river has become stinky since
Saturday with dead crucian carps. The bigger ones are as big as an adult's palm
and the smallest ones are about the size of the thumb.
"I used to raise
fishes in our village pond and I know it couldn't be a coincidence for so many
fishes to die all at once," said a tourist who gave only his family name as
Gao.
He suspected the river water had been polluted. "The fishes will die out
in a day or two if the river is not treated."
No dead fish has been spotted
yet in the main lake.
A forestry worker at the park said they had sprayed
pesticide on trees on the river bank last week. "Probably we used too much
pesticide and poisoned the fish," he said on condition of anonymity.
Yet dead
fishes are also found along dozens of meters in another river in the northern
areas of the park, though no plants are seen anywhere near the river.
A
worker at Yuanmingyuan's management office said they were seeing into the matter
and would expect "relevant departments" to help investigate.
Yuanmingyuan,
the emperor's private garden founded in the early 18th century and once known as
"Versailles of the East", was first overrun by British and French infantry in
1860. What survived that attack was largely ravaged in 1900 by an invasion force
of soldiers from eight foreign countries.
The park, built on the ruins of the
former garden as a reminder of foreign aggression, was in the spotlight two
years ago for putting membranes at the bottom of its lake to keep water from
seeping out during drought periods. Yet the membranes were criticized of having
killed lakebed wildlife and stopped the flow of groundwater and the top
environment agency ordered park management to remove them.
Beijing
authorities are going all-out to improve the city's water and air quality for
next year's Summer Games yet the challenge remains tough.
The city faces
grave water supply problems as four of its 21 reservoirs have dried up,
according to a report released by the municipal environment protection bureau
last year.
Meanwhile, nearly half of Beijing's sightseeing lakes and ponds
are so polluted their water cannot even be used to irrigate the park landscape
that surrounds them.
The report said water quality in seven of Beijing's
lakes, such as the Winter Palace Lake and Taoranting Lake, can be used only for
irrigation. Only four lakes could be used to supply drinking water, while water
from the other lakes is only fit for industrial use.
Beijing plans to invest
12.46 billion yuan (US$1.59 billion) between 2006 and 2010 to curb worsening
water pollution and guarantee clean water supply.
The city with 16 million
people conducted a four-day experiment on Aug. 17-20 to test whether pulling 1.3
million cars off its roads each day would prove effective in reducing air
pollution during the Games.
Experts say pulling 1.3 million motor vehicles
off the roads in Beijing each day can reduce exhaust emissions by 40
percent.
Xinhua
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