Authorities will push ahead with pollution control measures along the eastern route of the south-to-north water diversion project, which has sparked widespread concerns over its poor water quality since construction began eight years ago.

A leading official for the office of the project under the State Council said he hoped the move would alleviate these concerns.

Zhang Jiyao, minister of the office, said that all the pollution control projects would be put into operation as scheduled in 2011. These include the construction of man-made wetlands, designed to purify urban waste water, and pipeline networks that link with urban sewage treatment plants.

Mr Zhang also urged local authorities to monitor pollution control upstream of the Dangjiangkou Reservoir, a water supply source of the project’s central route, to prevent pollutants from entering the reservoir or fouling its trunk canal still under construction.

The south-to-north water diversion project is the world’s largest water-diversion scheme. The proposed three routes will take water from the Yangtze River in the south to the arid north, including Beijing, Tianjin and other drought-prone cities.