"Police chiefs" pointed to combat water pollution in central China

WUHAN, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hubei Province is to appoint "police chiefs" for all its rivers and lakes to step up water pollution control.

The police chiefs will cooperate with the lake and river chiefs on matters such as pollution, destruction of resources and resistance to law enforcement, the provincial water conservancy department said Monday.

The public security bureau heads at provincial, municipal, county and township levels will fill the roles, according to the provincial public security department.

China's lakes have shrunk and the water quality deteriorated due to agriculture, fish farming and sand dredging as well as human and industrial waste.

Appointment of river chiefs nationwide began more than a year ago.

"The Province of A Thousand Lakes," as Hubei is known, started to appoint lake chiefs in 2012 and river chiefs in 2015, to protect resources, control and prevent pollution and restore ecological environment.

By the end of last year, more than 12,000 chiefs had been appointed. Of 148 polluted rivers and lakes in Hubei, 94 were treated last year, and the ecosystems of 137 water sources have improved. Enditem