The Yangtze river, China's largest, is heavily polluted and threatens millions living along its banks, said the state media recently.

Environmentalists fear the pollution might turn the Yangtze into a "dead river' within five years. The government has promised to clean up the river, which supplies water to almost 200 cities. But experts feel unless action is taken quickly, billions of tonnes of untreated industrial and agricultural waste, sewage and ship waste are likely to kill what remains of the river's plant and aquatic species. Last year, authorities had said that the river water was unsafe for drinking.