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.
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