A clear river in Chongchuan district, Nantong [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Rivers in Chongchuan district, Nantong have taken on an entirely new look after several years of hard work by the city. The positive changes can be attributed to the river chief system.

The system puts each river under the charge of a river chief, who is responsible for protecting the environment around the river and reducing pollution.

The district has also implemented a third-party inspection system, with property management enterprises being introduced to offer professional services. A third-party management system has also been set up to deal with relevant problems.

The inspection system has been in effect since the beginning of June, and has received about 1 million yuan ($141,693) in investment. Twelve specialized workers have been hired to carry out day-long inspections in order to isolate and deal with problems related to rivers. All of the 156 rivers in the district are now inspected on a weekly basis.

"Ever since I started inspecting the rivers, I have been carefully checking for floating objects and pollution," said Sun Jiankun, who works at Baohua Property Management Co. He takes photos to record even slight changes in the rivers and sends messages to the river chiefs. 

According to the manager at the district's river chief office, the involvement of a third party allows local government departments to stay up to date on the situation and deal with any problems that may not have been otherwise noticed due to the limited number of river chiefs and the lack of professional qualifications they possess.