The State Environmental Protection Administration has issued a circular urging four provinces in the valley of the Huaihe River to crack down harder on river pollution.

Environmental protection authorities in these province are asked to turn in such small enterprises as paper mills and alcohol distilleries which should be shut down for polluting practices, the English news paper China Daily reported Thursday.

Licenses for major companies that discharge pollutants and sewage treatment plants should be completed by the end of the year, the circular noted.

And companies releasing more pollutants than permitted will be publicized through the media and reported to the administration.

The circular suggests provincial governments sign papers with municipal and county governments making them taking responsibility for control targets and to make clear pollution control requirements.

The Huaihe River, China's third-longest river, supplies water for around 165 million people in the provinces of Henan, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangsu in central and eastern China.

In late October, a State Council conference on pollution control in the river was held in Benbu, an industrial city in northern Anhui. Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan attended the conference.

At the conference, the governments of the four provinces along the Huaihe river signed a pledge with the administration to cut pollution along the river, which was endorsed by the State Council, the central Chinese government.

The provinces have pledged to license polluting firms beginning next year and to build additional sewage treatment plants. They will also curb agricultural pollution.

Source: Xinhua