More than 1,500 companies in seven provincial regions have been fined a combined total of 90.3 million yuan ($13 million) for polluting the environment, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said on Friday.

The central government sent seven teams to inspect Tianjin municipality and Shanxi, Liaoning, Anhui, Fujian, Hunan and Guizhou provinces on April 24 — the third batch of monthlong inspections since July last year.

The inspectors received 14,479 reports from the public about pollution through May 9 and recommended 9,194 for further investigation.

In total, 142 people were detained on suspicion of polluting the environment, while 1,278 government officials have been held accountable for poor environmental protection practices.

"The inspections have prompted local governments to solve some pollution problems, and won applause from the public," the ministry said in a statement.