Why is there no one managing the river as it narrows over the past three years?, Qingpu Rural River Becomes a Construction Waste Disposal Area River | Reporter | Rural

"When I was a child, I used to catch fish and shrimp in the river. Now not only are there no more fish and shrimp, but the river still smells strange when the weather is hot."

Recently, Mr. Zhang, a citizen, called the 12345 Shanghai Citizen Service Hotline to report that a section of a rural river in Qingpu District was littered with a large amount of construction waste, resulting in the overall narrowing of the river and water pollution. Mr. Zhang hopes that the management can pay attention to the condition of the river and improve the ecological environment at his doorstep.

Abandoning the river channel to save money?

Mr. Zhang claims to have lived in Xujiabang, Shenxiang Village, Zhujiajiao Town, Qingpu District since childhood. He is an authentic local and reflects that the river is located on the north side of his home, between the Maoxiyuan residential area and Xujiabang Village. On August 14th, the reporter saw at the scene that there was a "Zhujiajiao Town River Chief Publicity Board" standing at the end of the river channel mentioned by Mr. Zhang. The river channel was named "Xujiabang River" and its starting and ending positions were from "Zhumao River" to "Xujiabang Zhumao River", belonging to the village management level.

The river channel reported by Mr. Zhang.

Mr. Zhang told reporters that he remembers the river was still wide in 2020, but now it has become much narrower. "Xujiabang is mainly a rural residential area. During the renovation of residential buildings, rural residents demolished old houses and built new ones. The debris from the demolition was poured into the natural river channel nearby." Mr. Zhang said that this was the reason for the narrowing of the river channel. "The width was originally about tens of meters, and thousands of cubic meters of garbage have been dumped inside for many years."

A new house is being built near No. 85 Xujiabang.

The owner of a small shop at the village entrance told reporters that Xujiabang Village has been demolishing old houses and rebuilding new buildings in recent years. He speculated that this may be related to a previous accident. In May 2016, a gas explosion occurred in a household in the village, causing casualties. The explosion also turned the surrounding farmhouses into dangerous ones. Just about three years ago, after a large number of old houses were demolished, new buildings were built in their original locations. The shop owner did not see a large number of transport vehicles transporting the demolished waste out of the community. That is to say, construction waste is likely to be disposed of in the village.

Deep buried abandoned bricks and stones can be seen everywhere in the vegetable field.

Why dump construction waste into the river? Mr. Zhang said, "The transportation and processing costs of transporting construction waste to the outside are very high. Directly dumping it into the river saves time and transportation costs." According to his understanding, in addition to nearby disposal, dumping construction waste into the river can also "broaden" the riverbank and increase the area of residential land, so many residents operate in this way. After the residents at the end of the river near Maoxi Road dumped their garbage on the riverbank, he first noticed this phenomenon and took photos. The photo shown by Mr. Zhang to the reporter shows that the riverbank next to the stone bridge is filled with red and white broken bricks and stones, which have been spreading from the bank to the river. Through the water surface, you can also see the bricks sinking at the bottom of the water, and the width of the construction waste extending is nearly 10 meters. "Now the bricks and stones are covered with weeds and other plants, and the construction waste doesn't look so obvious."

After the demolition of an old house, Mr. Zhang took a photo of the river on its north side.

Watermelons grow on the garbage dump

The reporter arrived at the end of the river, which is residential building No. 85 in Xujiabang. The residential building has not been completed yet, and a large amount of steel bars, red bricks and other building materials are piled up next to the building. Several workers are working on the building. A worker told reporters that the construction of this residential building began around three months ago. After flipping over the pile of building materials and walking to the north side of the residential building, the reporter arrived at the location corresponding to Mr. Zhang's previous photo display. At first glance, there were no photos taken, and there was a vegetable field by the river, and from time to time, one could still see a watermelon growing. Crouching down, the reporter found that this vegetable field was different from ordinary. Underneath the ground was not a soft cultivated land, but rather many broken bricks buried several tens of centimeters deep, with only a little exposed outside the soil. There were also several layers of broken bricks under a mature slender pumpkin. On the outskirts of the vegetable garden at No. 83 Xujiabang, you can also see a riverbank line paved with crushed stones and bricks. From a distance, the south bank of the river appears uneven, with some areas wide and some areas narrow, forming a sharp contrast with the neat cement poured shoreline on the north bank of the river.

The broken bricks and stones are hidden under the pumpkin seedlings.

Regarding this phenomenon, Mr. Zhang explained that residents have found ways to plant some crops in order to utilize the backfilled river channel, which is also to increase the usage area of their homestead. "The land that has been backfilled also has ownership, and whoever owns the area can dispose of garbage. For example, in front of the Zhang family, if the Li family wants to come and dispose of it, the Zhang family does not allow it." Mr. Zhang reported the issue through 12345, but because he specifically marked it as anonymous, no department replied by phone. However, he believes that "the grassroots management department should also be aware of these things.".

The surrounding water system of Xujiabang Village is rich. Not only in front of Mr. Zhang's house, but also in front of many small buildings behind, there is a river water surrounding them. Along the main road in the village, a large number of trucks and moving trucks are parked, and many new buildings are under construction. On the shore in front of these self built buildings, just like before No. 85 Xujiabang, many exposed bricks can be seen, some of which have been compacted and become new ground. However, it cannot be distinguished on site whether this section of the riverbank is a river filled with construction waste.

Another river channel.

In addition to rivers, there are also large amounts of crushed stones and bricks on some large crops. Follow the main road into the depths of the village, cross a small bridge, and the road ends in front of the farmland, replaced by a dirt road that can only be walked by people. As we walked, this dirt road gradually turned into a brick road paved with broken red bricks, sandwiched between green farmland, very abrupt. Roughly estimated, the brick road is about 50 meters long and 2 meters wide, extending all the way to the banks of the Zhumao River.

Broken brick and stone roads between crops.

On the morning of August 15th, the reporter called the supervision hotline of the water management department in Zhujiajiao Town, Qingpu District. The staff stated that construction waste cannot be thrown into the river, and other colleagues are responsible for the relevant sections. The issues raised by the reporter have been conveyed, and a reply will be provided after verification. The Liberation Summer Action will continue to be closely monitored.