China has pledged to prevent pollution in its largest water diversion project which will transfer water from the rainy south to the dry north.

China will emphasize "the prevention and treatment of pollution at the sources and along the routes of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project," said Premier Wen Jiabao while delivering the government work report at the opening of the on-going Fourth Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC).

The massive South-to-North Water Diversion Project, which began construction in December 2002 and is expected to cost 500 billion yuan (US$62 billion), will divert 9.5 billion cubic meters of water from the Yangtze River, the country's longest, to north China on an annual basis once it is completed.

The project has faced pollution concerns since construction began.

"The success of the project lies in how pollution is prevented and controlled," said Dong Yawen, an expert with the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Lakes of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The project consists of three south-to-north canals with each running about 1,300 kilometers in eastern, central and western parts of the country.

In order to provide clean water for north China, industrial waste liquids, household waste water and even waste water treated by sewage plants are not allowed to be discharged into routes of the project.

The central government last year earmarked 643 million yuan (US$80.4 million) for four cities, including Jiangdu, Huai'an, Suqian and Xuzhou, in the eastern province of Jiangsu Province to build the facilities.

However, the four cities estimated that a total investment of 1.43 billion yuan (US$179 million) is needed.

"The local governments may not have enough funds to cover the gap," said an anonymous professor with the School of Environment of Nanjing University.

The industrialization process along the Yangtze River also poses threats.

An official in Jiangdu, one of the sources of the project, said that the city would like to contribute to the success of the project. "But we want economic development at the same time," he added

Nearly every city in Jiangsu has already built or is planning to build industrial parks along the routes of project.

"Industrialization along the Yangtze River contradicts pollution prevention," Dong Yawen said.

After inspecting the eastern section of the project last year, Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan told a meeting that substantial efforts to reduce pollution should be stepped up.

He said enterprises that destroy resources, pollute or fail to meet safe production requirements should be closed on a legal basis, while new high-pollution projects should be staunchly banned.

"We will accelerate the development of an environment-friendly society," said Premier Wen Jiabao in his government work report.

(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2006)