In 1977, Singapore’s Ministry of Environment drew up an action plan to tackle the ambitious task of restoring the river in 10 years. Under the plan, the government relocated settlements, industries and trades to areas with proper pollution control measures. Awareness programmes educated the public against littering and discharging waste into the rivers, and various engineering solutions were adopted to minimize pollution. After the sources of pollution were removed, work began to improve the physical appearance of the rivers. The river was dredged and the waterfront renovated.
This is an excerpt of a case study from WaterWealth, a publication on basin management across Asia and the Pacific. WaterWealth is available for download on the
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