After finding 16,000 dead pigs in the water last week, the government pulled another 1,000 ducks from the Sichuan River today. Local representatives for the government said that the bodies were first reported Tuesday and then withdraw from woven sacks upstream. The ducks were reportedly disinfected and then buried. The news comes as residents begin to question the basic health of river water in China. As we have discussed in class, most rivers are completely dead in China,and to no suprise dead animals are now being disposed of in rivers as well.
The issue of dead animals in Chinese rivers has drawn increasing concern from environmentalists and government critics. One activist called for authorities to determine if the ducks died of bird flu, which would unquestionably cause more concern. I doubt the government will conduct research on the ducks since they have allegedly been “disinfected.” The rotten ducks have likely contaminated the water supply, and the question remains as to what, if any, measures will be implemented to prevent similar incidences in the future.
I have to agree with vanmeter. The government seems more concerned with dealing the disposal of the dead animals rather than doing anything that would help prevent future occurrences. The state appears to be looking to satisfy the concerns of local residents by a visible cleanup job rather than solving the problem of water quality that they are truly concerned about.
As per the Tom Lehrer song [check YouTube], “…fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly, but they don’t last long if they try…” So do dead animals actually have much impact degrading water quality, given the dumping of raw (human) sewage?
I think one of the most interesting components of this article is the statement, “Local residents and livestock were not at risk as the river was not used for drinking water, officials added.” From this it appears that the government does not seem extremely concerned with the health of the citizens or fixing this pollution. However, the article continues on to say that “municipal government confirmed that over 16,000 pigs corpses had been pulled from Huangpu River, which supplies drinking water to Shanghai.” Although one river dumping was “harmless,” it is clear that there are rivers throughout China being polluted and negatively effecting citizens. As China becomes more advanced hopefully cleaning up pollution will be a greater concern, but the sentiments of officials from this article to not appear to point in that direct.
As the government begins to implement policy and dedicate funds to decreasing pollution, it is interesting to note what sector they will be targeting first – air, water, light, etc. These reports are increasingly concerning as they are not only affecting the animal life in China, but also its citizens. Is there a way to measure the negative health consequences of water pollution versus that of air pollution? How are the citizens reacting to the government’s slow response to pollution control?