Monday, March 25, 2013

Shanghai River Dead Pigs: Inauspicious World Water Day For 2013?


The timing could have been much worse but is the recent Shanghai pig carcasses in the river that number in the thousands a portent of our inability to manage our precious and dwindling fresh water resource? 

By: Ringo Bones 

Shanghai’s Huangpu River had recently gained global notoriety for the pig carcasses that on last count now had numbered 14,000 had been oft cited as an example of most government’s inability across the world to effectively manage their dwindling fresh water resource. And the pig carcass debacle could not have come much worse when back in March 22, 2013 we've just observed World Water Day. And many water supply watchdogs are increasingly concerned that most governments across the world are just too cavalier when it comes to formulating long-term plans to maintain the cleanliness of their main water supplies. 

Strange as it seems, Shanghai’s city officials say the river still meets national water quality standards. I mean how poor are their criteria for water quality standards can be when 14,000 pig carcasses strewn across the Huangpu River was deemed not a factor to downgrade the prevailing water quality standard of the said river? Clean water is not only vital in maintaining the health and well being of the populace but also vital for industrial and manufacturing activity as well. The powers that be also seem just too cavalier in their economic assessments when it comes to water supply security. By the way, we've been celebrating World Water Day since 1993.

As the world watches the “Shanghai River Pig Carcass Debacle” unfurl, authorities say they believe that many of the pigs came from the nearby city of Jiaxing in the Zhejiang Province where there are major pig farms. Many suspect that the thousands of pig carcasses strewn on the river is due to the government crackdown on pig farms back on November 2012 where a number of pig farms were ordered to be closed for using dead pig carcasses that died from sickness in making sausages and other processed meat products.