Chinese city in chaos as water to be cut off

Guardian ^ | Wednesday November 23, 2005 | David Fickling

[indcons]

Panic was today spreading in Harbin, with officials preparing to cut off water supplies as heavily polluted river water flowed towards the Chinese city.

Stockpiling began afresh at midnight when the local government switched taps on again for 12 hours after having cut off supplies to almost four million people yesterday.

The temporary switch-on came after revised calculations showed the pollution would not reach Harbin until early tomorrow morning.

[polymuser]

WalMart residuals.

[johniegrad]

I always panic when my wife threatens to cut off my water too.

[DJtex]

I'm very sorry for the danger to these people. Many villagers on the banks of the river won't be so protected. This accident is part of a massive story that we hear too little of--China and Russia are the two dirtiest industrialized countries which, along with huge populations, create huge health risks and long-term economic ruin.

The rivers in China are awful. For 1.25 billion people, water is the most vital necessity. The great Yellow River dries up 1,000 miles from the coast now. Huge engineering projects to pipe water from the north are staggering in their cost and complexity. The Three Georges dam is a sad necessity, but will probably silt up in 20 years, which was why the USA refused to assist with it. Now the Chinese are going to dam the Mekong river which will affect all of Southeast Asia.

If all of our enviro-whackos really cared about mother earth, they'd be moving to China to protest and to help. The USA, with our huge forests and farming acreage, is a net cleanser of the air, not a net polluter. China has ravaged almost all of her forest land and is reaping the consequences in silted rivers, loss of farmland, and destruction of habitat.

[dfwgator]

Quick somebody call Mayor Nagin, he'll know how to handle this. /sarcasm

[VOA]

If all of our enviro-whackos really cared about mother earth,
they'd be moving to China to protest and to help.

And they'd have China extinguish all the coal mine fires that
are allowed to continue burning and fouling the earth.
ONLY at Free Republic did I see the report issued a few years ago
that revealed that these burning coal pits create about as much pollution
as all the vehicles in the USA.

But don't expect the MSM to utter a peep about it.

[RightWhale]

China hasn't done much with Russian Harbin. Russia should retake the territory.

[SixIron]

I have been to Harbin. I understand Mao used to send people there to get their attitudes re-adjusted;.It is one of the dirtiest cities I have ever visited. Raw sewage is flowing directly into the river where the local populace is fishing and swimming. The air is so polluted, you can cut it with a knife. I am surprised they even told the people of the impending disaster. How would they know?

[mewzilla]

It is one of the dirtiest cities I have ever visited. Raw sewage is flowing directly into the river where the local populace is fishing and swimming. The air is so polluted, you can cut it with a knife. I am surprised they even told the people of the impending disaster.

Gee, how did Matt Lauer miss this on his recent trip to China?

[nw_arizona_granny]

Ping

[polymuser]

Gee, how did Matt Lauer miss this on his recent trip to China?

His perky little Chinese guide probably kept him distracted.

[adx]

If all of our enviro-whackos really cared about mother earth, they'd be moving to China to protest and to help.

They'd help, all right. They'd become fertilizer, courtesy of the Chicom government.

[ameribbean expat]

His perky little Chinese guide probably kept him distracted.... And what would his name be?

[jb6]

How do they know its polluted as opposed to normal for China?