Select restaurants, tourist attractions and construction projects have been shuttered around the pollution-plagued Danjiangkou reservoir in central China, the Ministry of Environmental Protection announced on Tuesday.
The reservoir, the water source of China's mega south-to-north water diversion project, is expected to supply water through canals and pipelines to the parched northern regions, including Beijing, from 2014.
However, sewage has been discharged untreated into the five rivers flowing into the reservoir, prompting local authorities in the concerned Henan, Hubei and Shaanxi provinces to take pollution control measures.
According to a ministry statement released on Tuesday, 19 restaurant ships at a dock of the reservoir have been shut down, and other ships were urged to improve waste collection methods. Fourteen illegal buildings around the reservoir have been demolished, and business at an aquatic entertainment venue and several ongoing construction projects has been suspended.
Meanwhile, a vanadium company and two sewage treatment factories in the area have eliminated pollution risks and upgraded anti-pollution measures, as required by local authorities.
Five special teams were also arranged to clean up garbage and flotage in the area, the statement said.