A Chinese newspaper reported Thursday that Beijing may divert water from the Yellow River to guarantee water supply during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games for the additional 2.5 million people it expects to attend.
Beijing is now suffering its worst drought in 50 years.
State media said last year that vast stretches of the Yellow River, which supplies water to 12 per cent of China’s 1.3 billion people and 15 per cent of its farmland, were so polluted it was unsafe for drinking or swimming.
China’s longest river, the Yangtze, was “cancerous” with pollution said state media in May.
Meanwhile Beijing authorities are also under pressure to protect its “Green Olympics” from sandstorms and enduring poor air quality.
