The worst drought to hit China in 50 years is spreading to more
areas after having plagued some parts for two or even three
months.
About 2.5 million people and 1.8 million livestock in southwest
Guizhou Province, a neighbor of hardest-hit
Sichuan Province, are suffering drinking water shortages
because of continuous heatwave and drought since mid August.
The mercury hovered above 35 degrees Celsius in the eastern
parts of the province since August 17, and in Zunyi City, the
highest temperature reached 40 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, 8.29 million mu (553,000 hectares) of cropland
has been affected and water level in local reservoirs and rivers
has decreased to record low, the provincial flood control and
drought relief headquarters said Friday.
The central government has allocated 15 million yuan (US$1.86
million) to the province for disaster relief.
Local governments have taken water-saving measures, controlling
water supply to car-washing services and bathhouses.
Even the country's "land of rivers and lakes" cannot escape the
impact of the severe drought. In Shaoxing and Quzhou of eastern
Zhejiang Province, more than 100,000 people have to face
drinking water shortages.
Shaoxing has reported a continuous fall of the water levels in
its 535 reservoirs. The water reserves have declined to only 40
percent that of usual days, said the provincial department of water
resources.
In Huangshan, a famous tourism city in east
Anhui Province, 74,800 people and 18,800 livestock are facing
difficulty to get sufficient drinking water.
Many wells in local villages have dried up and villagers can
only live on water carried from other places miles away.
Over the past two months, the drought has left at least 18
million people short of drinking water in 15 provinces,
municipalities and regions, according to the Chinese Ministry of
Water Resources.
"The severe drought will not ease up and is very likely to get
worse," the ministry said on its website.
Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan Province have been hardest
hit.
The Sichuan Provincial Meteorological Administration predicts
the drought will continue as the central and eastern parts of the
province experiencing temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius
until Saturday.
The province, however, will see marked falls in temperature next
Monday when showers and heavy rains are forecast, the
administration said earlier this week.
The drought, the worst to hit Chongqing since the city's
meteorological records began in 1891, began in mid-May and had
plagued most of the municipality for 60 to 90 days, said Vice Mayor
Chen Guangguo.
Nearly eight million people and 7.3 million livestock had
shortages of drinking water due to drought, which also affected 1.3
million hectares of cropland, said Chen.
The State Council has urged local governments to secure water
supply for the people, saying small and expedient water-storing and
transmission facilities should be put to use.
(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2006)