Dirty water, dying river blocking north's development, delegates claim

A lack of clean water and the drying up of the Yellow River is blocking development in the north, delegates to the NPC and the recently-held CPPCC said.

They demanded urgent action in a motion submitted to the CPPCC put forward by the China Democratic League, which urged Beijing to manage the river according to law, the Guangming Daily reported.

The quality of the water in the main river was found to be well below standard during tests last month.

It was so dirty that three cities - Sanmenxia, Poyang and Xinxiang - stopped using it as a source of drinking water.

Zhang Qia, deputy chairman of the CPPCC's Population and Resources Committee, was quoted by the Guangzhou Daily as saying Beijing should also act to stop further drying up of the river. Some CPPCC members suggested pumping water from the southern Huai and Yangtze rivers to the Yellow's downstream provinces of Shangdong and Henan to solve acute shortages.

Others urged Beijing to look into the possibility of pumping water from the upper reaches of the Langcang River (which becomes the Mekong in Thailand) and the Nu (which becomes the Salween in Burma) to the source of the Yellow River in Qinghai province.