At least 14 million people and 15 million livestock are
suffering from a shortage of drinking water as continuous droughts
and searing heat ravage western China.
The hardest hit area is Chongqing Municipality in southwest China,
which is being plagued by its severest drought in 50 years. It has
had no rain for more than 70 consecutive days and two-thirds of
rivers have dried up.
Although artificial rainfall has been induced in 13 southeast
counties such as Kaixian and Shizhu since last weekend, the western
part of Chongqing is still faring badly, according to an employee
from the local meteorological station, who only gave her surname
Liang.
"Artificial rain in some counties brought temperatures down by
10 C," Liang said. But she added artificial rain can only help
lower temperatures and does little to alleviate drought.
The drought in Chongqing began in mid-May. Over 7.5 million
people in 40 counties have faced difficulties getting enough
drinking water over the past month, when temperatures have not
dropped below 35 degrees.
On Tuesday, the temperatures in some parts of the municipality
climbed to 42 C.
Approximately 1.3 million hectares of crops have been destroyed,
and total losses have hit 2.5 billion yuan (US$ 312.5 million),
according to the local government.
With the summer crop heavily affected, market prices for leaf
vegetables have soared 50 percent.
Due to severe heat, all hydrogen power plants in the
municipality have been suspended. Seventy-two fire accidents
resulting from scorching sun have taken place since August 1.
Hospitals in the city are crowded with patients suffering
heatstroke. According to Lei Shixiu, a doctor at the city's
emergency centre, the number of calls for medical help from
heatstroke sufferers has been rising in the past month.
"We're receiving more than 2,000 emergency calls every day," Lei
was quoted by China Central Television as saying. "One patient died
of serious heatstroke on Tuesday."
To help curb the drought, the local government has mobilized 5.8
million people and allocated 140 million yuan (US$17.5 million) to
help residents fight against drought by tapping groundwater and
improving water conservation facilities.
"The natural disaster has had a huge impact on agriculture and
people's lives," said Wang Yang, the party chief of the
municipality. "Fighting against drought will be a heavy task for
the municipality in the coming period."
He urged government officials to take all possible measures to
decrease the impact of the drought on people's lives.
Water supply for more than 3.6 million people and three million
livestock has been restored thanks to drought-relief efforts,
according to the local government.
Sustained high temperatures and low summer rainfall have also
brought drought to parts of southwestern Guizhou Province, the
central province of Hubei and northwest Ningxia Hui Autonomous
Region and Gansu Province,
A total of 2.5 billion yuan (US$ 312 million) has been injected
to combat drought across the country, and drinking water
difficulties of more than 12 million people have been resolved,
according to a news release from the nation's office for flood
control and drought relief.
While the West suffers drought, east and south China have been
battered by a series of typhoons and tropical storms this year that
have killed about 1,300 people.
The death toll from Typhoon Saomai, which hit China on Thursday,
has reached 319 and could rise further, reports said.
(China Daily August 17, 2006)