The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has sent a team of investigators to oversee a series of environmental pollution cases in the Qilian Mountains of Gansu Province in northwest China.
According to the SPP, from January to October this year, procurators in Gansu approved the arrest of 16 people involved in crimes such as damaging environmental resources in Qilian Mountains.
The SPP said procurators in Gansu had experienced problems and difficulties in protecting the environment of the Qilian Mountains, such as supervisors being unsuccessful in locating proof of criminal offences, insufficient information sharing, and conflict between local agricultural development and environmental protection.
The SPP team suggested that local procurators thoroughly search ecological and environmental resources, dig deeper into the information about duty crimes behind environmental violations, and step up promotional activities to raise the public awareness.
In recent years, various environmental violations have been uncovered in the area, including over-exploitation of mineral resources, illegal construction and operation of hydropower facilities, excessive emissions by local enterprises, and the failure of local officials to rectify existing environmental issues.
As a nature reserve standing on the border of Gansu and Qinghai provinces, the Qilian Mountains was designated a national protected site in 1988, but hundreds of mines and construction projects in the area have continued to take a toll on the environment.
