Há algumas centenas centenas de porcos mortos começaram a aparecer boiando nas águas do Rio Xanguai. Agora o número de animais mortos retiradas da principal fonte de abastecimento de uma das maiores cidades do planeta já chega ao impressionante número de 16.000.
A explicação que está aparecendo é que a aplicação de legislações mais rígidas impedindo a comercialização da carne de animais que morrem fora das condições normais de abate resultou no descarte dos corpos em corpos aquáticos.
Essa crise que até agora é essencialmente chinesa poderá ocorrer em outras partes do planeta, visto que o número de animais sendo criados para alimentar a crescente demanda por carnes.
Se isso ocorrer o mais provável é que vejamos este tipo de situação ameaçando cada vez mais as escassas reservas de água doce que hoje são fortemente pressionadas pelo modelo produtivo da Revolução Verde.
Number of dead pigs found in Chinese rivers rises to 16,000
Authorities say Shanghai's water is safe, but no official explanation has yet been given for the dumping of carcasses
Associated Press
Carcasses are loaded into a van in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. Photograph: AP
The number of dead pigs recovered in the last two weeks from rivers that supply water to Shanghai has risen to more than 16,000.
The government in China's financial hub said 10,570 carcasses had been pulled from its Huangpu river. That is in addition to 5,528 pigs plucked from upstream tributaries in the Jiaxing area of Zhejiang province.
Authorities give daily updates, telling the public that tests show Shanghai's water is safe, but no official has given any full explanation about the massive dumping of pig carcasses.
Hog farmers have told state media that the dumping of carcasses is rising because police have started cracking down on the illicit sale of pork products made from dead, diseased pigs.
The state-controlled Southern Weekly newspaper, citing court documents, said three men were sentenced to life in prison in Jiaxing last November for procuring dead pigs to sell their meat. It says the men and their group bought 77,000 dead pigs in a period of more than two years.
Local officials also told Southern Weekly that the city lacked the facilities to dispose properly of dead pigs. Hog farming is a major business in Jiaxing.
