Sustained drought over the past four weeks has caused a severe
water crisis for over 1.2 million people in central China's Hunan Province while also parching two
provinces in east China, authorities said yesterday.
Drought is plaguing 120,000 square kilometers inside Hunan
Province, more than half of its total area, said sources from the
provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Office.
The dry weather has caused a water shortage for more than 1.2
million people and 700,000 head of cattle in 14,000 villages, they
said.
In Guangrong Village, Xinning County, the village's 600
residents have had to ride on horseback six kilometers in order to
fetch water from a neighboring village.
Hunan Province has received about 544 millimeters of rainfall in
the past two months. That is 25 percent less than the average for
the rainy season, according to the provincial Flood Control and
Drought Relief Office.
Since July 1, the average rainfall has measured only 20 to 50
percent of the average volume.
Lack of rain has left most of the province's 2.04 million water
storage facilities half empty. Eight hundred fifty nine reservoirs
have dried up.
The water crisis has cut the province's daily power generating
capacity by 20 million kilowatt-hours. The provincial capital,
Changsha, has suspended power generation at all hydropower stations
to save water for drought relief.
The province has also called up 46,000 cadres and 2.39 million
laborers to join the drought relief campaign.
The provincial meteorological bureau has predicted that August
temperatures will hover around 37 to 40 degrees Celsius in many
parts of the province.
High temperatures in neighboring Fujian Province have also caused a drought,
affecting the drinking water supplies for 130,000 people and 32,500
livestock.
The high temperatures in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian, exceeded
35 degrees Celsius for the 31st consecutive day yesterday. This is
the longest hot spell since the city began recording meteorological
data in 1880.
Thirty-four cities in the province reported temperatures above
38 degrees Celsius, with Xiamen and Shanyou breaking heat records
in July. A month-long drought is also crippling Jiangxi Province in China's east, where
820,000 people and 460,000 head of livestock have been suffering
water shortages.
(Shanghai Daily August 1, 2007)