Party chief 'sorry' for water cutoff in Sichuan

By Huang Zhiling (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-18 09:43

CHENGDU: The Party chief of Ya'an, Sichuan province, made a public apology on Friday, after 130,000 of the city's residents were left struggling to find clean drinking water due to pollution of the Qingyi River.

In a statement published on the local government's website, Party chief Xu Mengjia promised the water supply, which had to be turned off on Wednesday, would be restored on Saturday.

The problem began when water discharged from the Tongtou and Yucheng hydropower stations, which were being serviced in the upper reaches of the river, caused large amounts of mud and sand to be forced into the Ya'an section, Xu said.

A local man surnamed Wang, said on Friday: "The Qingyi River used to look nice. But on Wednesday, the water became muddy, and dead fish and shrimps started appearing on the surface."

The city's water supply company said the influx of excessive amounts of mud and sand at about 8 pm on Wednesday polluted three areas that are used to provide source water for drinking.

Deng Ping, an official with the company, said: "We had to cut off the water supply to the whole city at about half past midnight because we couldn't use the muddy water to make drinking water."

Although the supply was restored in some low-rise buildings at about midday on Thursday, as of press time Friday, many residents were still having to make do with bottled water from supermarkets.

Local government worker Wang Yunkang said: "People can't take baths, and have to fetch their water from low-rise buildings to cook their meals."

Denying the allegation that the fish and shrimps died as a result of chemical or heavy metal contamination, Xu said their deaths were caused by a lack of oxygen after the mud and sand flowed into the river.

With both hydropower stations having stopped discharging water and the city's supply company up and running again, the supply of clean water is expected to resume on Saturday, he said.