(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-07 21:22

BEIJING -- Beijing launched its first census of pollution sources for accurate statistics on Friday, amid a green drive to improve the environment ahead of the Olympics.

The survey will cover 90,000 sources of pollution, among which 24,000 are industrial sources, 45,000 residential, 21,000 agricultural and 128 facilities for centralized treatment of pollutants, according to the city's bureau of environmental protection.

The survey started at Beijing Electric Power Transmission and Transformation Company as well as Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical Co., Ltd. Each of the two companies had to fill in a 58-page questionnaire due at the end of April when the survey was expected to end.

Around 7,400 surveyors have been trained for the large-scale census.

Beijing environmen authorities said last month that major pollutants in Beijing were down and air quality in the city had improved for a ninth consecutive year, but experts warned that the government should prepare for a long and tough fight against air pollution, citing inhalable particles and ozone as major obstacles for Beijing to achieve its "Green Olympics" goal.

The survey will focus on industrial sources including metallurgy, chemistry, construction materials, power plants, paper-making, pharmaceuticals and mining.

The central government planned to finish data collection and analysis this year and approve the findings in the first half of 2009.