The coastal city of Zhanjiang in south China's Guangdong province has resolved to spend 156 million yuan (some US$18.8 million) in the coming two years to deal with a lack of water endangering the lives of 608,000 local people.

Zhanjiang is one of the cities in Guangdong plagued with the most serious drought, driving local people to dire thirst due to the lack of water supply.

Currently, 2.2 million people in Zhanjiang are in need of water, including 608,000 who are in a desperate situation, 450,000 who cannot get sustained water supply, 158,000 who cannot obtain enough quality water and 1.6 million who still drink low-quality water.

The money will be spent on 106 projects, including 10 water-supplying projects in rural areas, 15 projects to divert water from reservoirs and rivers to urban areas, as well as 81 wells.

The provincial government has paid great attention to Zhanjiang's water-supply program. It has pledged to earmark 100 million yuan (some US$12 million) for water-supply projects in the rural areas of Zhanjiang.

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2003)