The water supply was cut off off in a city of about half a million people as a toxic slicks moved down one of China’s large rivers towards the Russian border, as per the state media on Monday. In Jiamusi, which is home to 550 000 people, the taps were turned off on Sunday. This was done because the dangerous chemical pool approached along the Songhua river in the province of Heilongjiang of China.

Warning was given to people who reside along the bank of the river in Jiamusi not to take water from the river, or to go for swimming, according to a paper.  Jiamusi and the other cities are paying the price of the worst industrial accident on record in recent years. 100 tonnes of benzene and nitrobenzene was released into the Songhua after a blast at a Petro China chemical plant. Songhua provides much of the drinking water to urban communities in northeast China. 

The awareness of the accident came upon China last month, as the slick went in the direction of Harbin that caused the water supply to be cut for five days. The Xinhua suggested that the area might have to live with the repercussion of the toxic spill. The mayor of Jiamusi, Li Haitao cautioned that the pollutants would form sediments on an island in the river which will result in a long-term contamination of drinking water. There’re chances that the toxic spill would enter Russia, highlighting the cross-border nature of the pollution that’s taking lace in modern China.

Till Monday, the slick was 323 km from Sanjiankou, the border river dividing Russia and China, according to Xinhua.  The fall-out among officials and politicians of China from the blast at the Petro China factory also continued. The general manager of Jilin Petroleum and chemical, Yu Li, was discharged from his duties Sunday following a decision by Petro China. This was reported by the China News Service.