Chongqing lifts environment for its Longxi River, nurtures people’s awareness for environmental protection

Sonorous sound of suona horn goes afar along the clear and green Longxi River, on the banks of which pedestrians are strolling in lush trees and bushes.

“The beautiful Longxi River has come back,” said Long Ronghua, an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage who loves to play suona horn by the river.

However, the “beautiful Longxi River,” located in Dianjiang county, Southwest China’s Chongqing municipality, was different from what it looks like today.

Since the early 1990s, paper mills, breweries and chemical fertilizer plants sprouted on the banks of the river. Besides, the domestic sewage generated by livestock farms, recycling centers as well as nearby residents was also discharged into the river. As a result, Longxi River, flowing across Liangping, Dianjiang and Changshou counties, became turbid and stinky.

A local art teacher has a clear memory of the polluted river, who told the People’s Daily that he once tried to beautify the river in his drawing, but was later criticized for not being real, which was saddening.

Prominent ecological issues concern the well-being of the people and the building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. The turbid and stinky river had seriously damaged the production and life of nearly residents. To return a favorable environment to the people, counties and districts along the river learned from their mistakes and decided to actively respond to the issue.

In 2017, Dianjiang county appointed “river chiefs” at county, township and village levels to carry out ecological restoration, promote the construction of sewage pipe network, and urge polluting enterprises to rectify.

Since then, enterprises have been designated as “managers” of the river responsible for clearing and patrolling. Besides, they are also exploiting the river for fishery and power generation.

River chiefs at each level, who share clear division of work and responsibilities, have become a key engine propelling the river treatment at the source and forged synergy.

The environmental problems of the Longxi River was accumulated over the years, so to address it calls for huge efforts and wide participation. To make the river better, Dianjiang, Changshou and Liangping counties signed a joint treatment agreement.

Yunlong township in Liangping and Pushun township in Dianjiang are located on the two sides of the Longxi River. Under the joint treatment agreement, the two townships have both established professional river clearing teams to collect garbage in the river course. The garbage collected by them are sent to their respective dumpsters and then disposed by relevant municipal departments. Since, the two counties have had no more disputes over garbage disposal.

Everyone is a beneficiary and protector of ecology, and no one is an outsider in ecological protection. The treatment of Longxi River has nurtured the awareness of environmental protection for many people. The fish protection team has been joined by local fishermen who patrol on the river every day; art teachers are making drawings to call on people to protect environment; retired teachers are writing poems to arouse people’s awareness for environmental protection.

Only by making environmental protection a habit and transform awareness into concrete actions can the blue sky, green meadow, and clear water be well protected.