Meteorological departments are looking at cloud seeding if rain does not alleviate the current droughts sweeping China.

Some areas are experiencing severe problems as the summer heatwave continues to sizzle the country.

 

By the end of July, 3.3 million hectares of farmland were suffering from severe dry weather, said the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

 

Around 4.9 million rural people and 3.7 million heads of livestock are facing shortages of drinking water, the office said.

 

Fujian Province in east China has suffered the hardest-hit drought in recent years with more than 200 reservoirs drying up.

 

Nearly 190,000 hectares of farmland have been affected by the drought and 670,000 local people have barely enough to drink.

 

Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, has now had 36 days with temperatures above 35 C, something that has not been seen for 10 years, according to statistics from the local meteorological observatory.

 

Chongqing Municipality in southwest China is also among the hardest-hit areas. The number of areas affected is increasing.

 

More than 500,000 hectares of farmland and 1 million people there are facing water shortages.

 

The local government has injected around 26 million yuan (US$3 million) to try and alleviate the problem.

 

Weather forecasters predict that most Chinese cities will experience higher temperatures than last year.

 

(China Daily August 12, 2004)