Story of a lake and how to protect it

The Kunming environmental protection authority in Yunnan province plans to make each visitor to Dianchi Lake's drainage area pay 10 yuan ($1.59) as an ecological indemnity fee.

This has invited criticism from people, who say the government is interested only in making money and is blind to local residents, enterprises and their needs. The government's later announcement that visitors will be charged according to the level of population they create has been lost in the hue and cry.

Some people doubt the local government's capability to curb pollution, because even after spending more than 10 billion yuan ($1.57 billion) since 1998 to clean the Dianchi Lake, it has not been able to rid the lake of eutrophication.