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Drought haunts 2m people in South China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-10 16:56
More than two million people in south China's Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region are facing an acute shortage of drinking water due to a
prolonged drought this year, according to the regional headquarters for flood
control and drought relief on Monday.
The dry
spells in the region over the past several months have affected 625,000 hectares
of crops and led to a shortage of drinking water for 1.4 million head of
domestic animals by the end of September, according to the headquarters.
Currently, the water stored in
local reservoirs is only 4.38 billion cubic meters, less than half of last
year's figure for the same period.
Guilin, the regional capital city, is
suffering the most serious drought in the region, with 133,000 hectares of farm
crops affected and 655,000 people facing a shortage of drinking water.
Laibin has 112,000 hectares of crops affected by drought.
Governments at various levels in the region have aroused 3.33 million locals
of various ethnicities to fight the drought, investing 90 million yuan (US$11.09
million).
Thanks to the drought-fighting efforts, 990,000 people affected by
drought now have access to drinking water and 261,000 hectares of drought-hit
crops are being irrigated.
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