Harbin survived its third day without tap water yesterday with the help of an emergency plan activated for the first time in China.
Water supplies to the Heilongjiang Province capital were cut off on Wednesday after a chemical factory explosion in nearby Jilin seriously polluted the Songhua River.
"It was the first time that China had launched emergency counterplans against the eruption of an environmental pollution incident," said Zhang Lijun, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration of China.
At the end of last year, China completed an emergency counterplan package, including a State Council counterplan in general, 105 specific and departmental counterplans, and local-level schemes.
The SEPA immediately launched the emergency system after a chemical plant in Heilongjiang's neighboring province of Jilin blew up on November 13, releasing 100 tons of benzene-like pollutants into the Songhua River.
Facing its first-ever serious environmental incident, the provincial government of Heilongjiang earmarked 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million) for the counter-pollution campaign.
A round-the-clock water surveillance is currently under way, particularly along the river's Harbin section.
Two reservoirs upstream have discharged an unusually large volume of water into the river to dilute the pollutants. China has informed Russia of the situation and will keep doing so after the polluted water passes Harbin.
The two sides are making specific arrangements for opening a hot line for the matter, officials with Chinese Foreign Ministry and the SEPA pledged on Thursday. The SEPA and Heilongjiang provincial environment authority are also continuing to inform the public of the latest situation on a daily basis.
"The work has been a heavy load," said Lin Qiang, a provincial environment protection bureau spokesman. More facilities were needed to equip new monitoring stations as the polluted water is moving downstream.
(Xinhua)