HARBIN: The extensive effort to rid the Songhua River of pollution, which includes 24 projects launched out of Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, is making great progress, according to sources from Harbin environmental protection bureau.

Work on all of the projects, which have a 600 million yuan ($87.8 million) price tag, have started. They're on the list of the central government's Songhua River water pollution prevention program.

The projects include three key regional prevention projects, nine industrial control projects related to enterprises, and 12 sewage treatment plants.

"Mopanshan water source protection project and six projects on large enterprises, such as Harbin Pharmaceutical Group and China National Petroleum Corporation Harbin Branch, have been completed and put into use," said Wang Song, a senior official with the bureau.

The central government took action to address pollution concerns after a blast at the No. 101 Petrochemical Plant in Jilin city, Jilin province, near the river in 2005.

About 100 tons of pollutants containing benzene and nitrobenzene spilled into the nearby Songhua River. The toxic slick affected the daily lives of millions of people living downstream.

Notably, the river pollution forced Harbin, a city with a population of more than 4 million, to suspend its water supply for nearly four days.

Unveiled in 2006 by the central government, the Water Pollution Prevention Program on the Songhua River was designed to clean the river and tackle pollution in comprehensive ways, over a five-year period. With a total investment of 13.41 billion yuan, the program was established to fund 224 projects, including 118 related to Heilongjiang province.

After three years of water pollution treatment, the water quality of the river has improved considerably, officials said.

"This year's ice is extremely clean and transparent, like crystal. It must be very nice when they turn into ice sculptures," said Liu Ruiqiang, general director in charge of constructing the ice and snow world, a winter resort in Harbin.

Questions:

1. Which northern Chinese river is getting cleaned up?

2. How much are the 24 clean up projects expected to cost?

3. Which major incident forced the central government to take action over river pollution concerns?

Answers:

1. Songhua River.

2. 600 million yuan.

3. A blast at the No. 101 Petrochemical Plant in Jilin city, Jilin province, near the river in 2005.