Beijing city officials shirking smog blame, China’s environmental watchdog says.
“Some local cadres blame environmental problems on external causes,” the ministry’s Central Environmental Protection Inspectorate group said.
“They have insufficient understanding of the actual reasons involved, and where their own blame lies.” Since 2013, Beijing’s government has spent 68.3 billion yuan (US$9.92 billion or HK$77.1 billion) on environmental protection and cut coal consumption from 23 million tonnes to 9.5 million tonnes last year.
But the capital continues to choke on smog, due in large part to the tens of thousands of diesel vehicles on its roads.
Inadequate sewage treatment has also left local water sources with significant concentrations of pollutants, according to a report by Caixin.
China’s economic growth has taken a heavy toll on its environment, with factories and headlong urbanisation poisoning skies, rivers and soil.
While top leaders have pledged to take serious steps in the “war on pollution”, local governments have been criticised for lax enforcement of regulations.
Recent central government investigations found pervasive polluting by manufacturers in the urban cluster of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas.
Some 72 per cent of 847 enterprises inspected earlier this week had committed environmental violations, a government statement stated.
Some companies had engaged in illegal production, while others emitted excess amounts of pollutants or had pollution control facilities that were not in operation or incomplete.