Face-off between development v/s environment

We have been reading reports on the pollution levels in China while secretly wondering we too are headed the same way. The Chinese Govt is literally on a war path to curb this as this kind of pollution reports are spoiling the country’s image as one of the best places to do business in. Not exactly the best but that is the image which the Chinese Govt is working on.

There is one report which points the needle straight at one culprit – Jizhong Energy Resources. It operates six large coal mines and dozens of related facilities in Xingtai, which government data show has the worst air quality of any Chinese town. Five of the facilities are on a national list of top air polluters, and eight are on the Xingtai government's list.

The Govt, which is waging a war on the major pollutants, got on the back of Jizhong, following which the company has closed or is planning to close three of its five Xingtai power plants and has halted operations at a fourth while it upgrades to cleaner-running equipment. Fearing the wrath of the Govt, the company is spending millions of dollars to bring down this pollution, despite earnings falling as coal demand falls.

Naturally, the residents of this town are very happy but one does not know how long this will last as the company is cutting down on pay and there is major worry of losing their jobs. Many livelihoods could be affected permanently. So one hand this worry of pollution remains but bigger worries of survival emerge. Xingtai is now facing a face-off between the environment and development.