Southwest suffers as a nation's dry society
By Li Xinran |
March 19, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
PARTS of southwest China are suffering from the worst drought in more than a century, leaving millions of people with inadequate water and huge areas of farmland barren.
The drought in one of the worst-hit provinces, Guizhou, would continue for some time despite rainfall expected between next Monday and Thursday, the local meteorological bureau said.
Drought-hit zones in the mountainous province account for more than 70 percent of total provincial area, while about 100,000 migrant workers from the region have returned home to deal with water shortages.
Yunnan Province, also in the southwest, is experiencing its worst drought in more than 100 years, with at least 6 million people affected, according to a report on the China Meteorological Bureau's Website.
The drought has caused economic losses of 10 billion yuan (US$1.46 billion) in the province, mostly from lost crops or livestock, prompting the local government to pump water from dozens of meters below ground.
The only runway of Wujiaba International Airport in Yunnan's capital of Kunming cracked because of the decline of ground water tables. The airport has been carrying out repairs between midnight and 7am since Tuesday, affecting about 50 flights a day.
The drought that has hit neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region since last August is worsening, expanding to 12 of the region's 14 cities involving losses of 1.78 billion yuan, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Nearly 600,000 hectares of farmland has been affected, while more than 1.8 million people and about 900,000 head of livestock face a shortage of drinkable water.
Up to 6.76 million people in Guangxi had been affected, Xinhua said.
In Guizhou's Zunyi City, which has advanced irrigation and drainage facilities, almost half of its counties or districts are on severe water restrictions.
Its tens of thousands of "do-it-yourself" ponds or reservoirs have proved useless.
Most of China's farmland irrigation and drainage facilities were built in 1950s and 1960s and nearly half of them were defective by the end of 2007, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.
More than half of the country's 120 million hectares of farmland is without irrigation and depends on rainfall.
The drought in one of the worst-hit provinces, Guizhou, would continue for some time despite rainfall expected between next Monday and Thursday, the local meteorological bureau said.
Drought-hit zones in the mountainous province account for more than 70 percent of total provincial area, while about 100,000 migrant workers from the region have returned home to deal with water shortages.
Yunnan Province, also in the southwest, is experiencing its worst drought in more than 100 years, with at least 6 million people affected, according to a report on the China Meteorological Bureau's Website.
The drought has caused economic losses of 10 billion yuan (US$1.46 billion) in the province, mostly from lost crops or livestock, prompting the local government to pump water from dozens of meters below ground.
The only runway of Wujiaba International Airport in Yunnan's capital of Kunming cracked because of the decline of ground water tables. The airport has been carrying out repairs between midnight and 7am since Tuesday, affecting about 50 flights a day.
The drought that has hit neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region since last August is worsening, expanding to 12 of the region's 14 cities involving losses of 1.78 billion yuan, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Nearly 600,000 hectares of farmland has been affected, while more than 1.8 million people and about 900,000 head of livestock face a shortage of drinkable water.
Up to 6.76 million people in Guangxi had been affected, Xinhua said.
In Guizhou's Zunyi City, which has advanced irrigation and drainage facilities, almost half of its counties or districts are on severe water restrictions.
Its tens of thousands of "do-it-yourself" ponds or reservoirs have proved useless.
Most of China's farmland irrigation and drainage facilities were built in 1950s and 1960s and nearly half of them were defective by the end of 2007, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.
More than half of the country's 120 million hectares of farmland is without irrigation and depends on rainfall.
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