China has formed a set of comparatively improved anti-flood
emergency management mechanisms over the past years, said Zhang
Zhitong, vice chief of the Office of State Flood Control and
Drought Relief Headquarter.
At
a press conference sponsored by the State Council Information
Office on June 13, Zhang said that China is a country plagued by
frequent flood disasters causing large amounts of property damage
each year.
China's flood control emergency management mechanism reflects six
fields: laws, organization systems, flood control emergency plans,
command systems, emergency duty teams, and flood control material
storage.
The first field is law making. So far, the central government has
issued the Water Law, Flood Control Law, Flood Control Regulations,
and River Courses Management Regulations.
The second is an organization system. The central government
established the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarter
in early 1950s, and its current leader is Vice Premier Hui Liangyu.
A complete flood control system has also been set up at provincial,
city and county levels.
The third is flood control emergency plans. The central government
has made various plans for large, medium and small rivers involving
flood control forecasts, surveys and reports, dispatches, emergency
duty organizations, and medicine supplies.
The fourth is a command system. More than 20,000 hydrologic
stations and observation stations have been built across the
country. The flood and rainfall situation can be reported to the
state flood control office within 30 minutes after the disasters
happen. The command system can fully reflect the situation, such as
where the floods happen and how serious they are. Meanwhile, the
timely reports of disasters help the state office master a national
situation of meteorology, rainfall, regimen, water conservancy
projects, and affected population. The state office can make a
final decision according to its gathered information.
The fifth is the emergency duty teams. There are over 100 flood
control emergency teams at state level, 44 at provincial level and
250 at city and county level. Meanwhile, the Chinese People's
Liberation Army also has established 19 professional emergency
troops. Besides, a large group of non-governmental teams are needed
to participate in combating floods and rushing to deal with
emergencies at any time.
The sixth is flood control material storage. Material storage plays
an important role in flood control and its annual amount is big.
State-level warehouses distributing in all parts of the country are
stored with large quantities of materials for emergency use, and
provincial, city and county-level warehouses follow suit.
(China.org.cn June 14, 2003)