BEIJING — Local governments addressed more environmental pollution cases in the first five months of this year than the same period in 2016, according to the country’s environmental protection watchdog.

From January to May, local governments investigated and dealt with 13,478 violations of the law and regulations, up 201 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP).

Over 510 million yuan ($74.58 million) in fines was issued, and 995 cases were transferred to public security departments.

Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces each dealt with over 1,000 cases, the highest nationwide, while seven regions including Tianjian Municipality and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region were criticized for the small number of cases they handled.

The MEP also presented example cases such as a local government in southeast China’s Fujian province, which used drones to help investigate one company’s polluting activities.