Anxiety high in drought zones
- Source: Global Times
- [02:54 March 25 2010]
- Comments
The Chaotianmen section of the Yangtze River in Chongqing shows very low levels. The water level in Chongqing continues falling due to the serious drought in southwest China. Photo: CFP
By Liang Chen in Qujing and Song Shengxia in Beijing
When Shiguan village head Li Mingsheng told a villager to stop pouring reservoir water into his barrels, the villager, Wang Ansheng, did not stop, but rather looked up and yelled back, "If you do not let me get water, I'll fight with you."
Many people, particularly across southwest China, have turned desperate in their need for water during the ongoing seven-month drought that has ravaged farmlands and threatens millions of lives.
For Li's village, located in Luliang county, Wednesday brought a beacon of hope to residents. A nearby reservoir with 400,000 cubic meters of water reserve was finally opened to villagers for irrigation.
The reservoir normally has between 2 million and 4 million cubic meters of water, and it is meant to support all 21 villages of Majie town in Luliang. The water was made available Wednesday to the nearest village, Shiguan, for the first time this year, but instead of the normal 20 days of availability at the start of the farming season, it was turned on for just a few hours.
The severe drought, which began last autumn, has plagued the Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Chongqing regions, and it is now spreading to Hunan Province and threatens to affect Gansu Province.
The latest figures released Wednesday by the Ministry of Civil Affairs show that the drought has so far affected 61 million Chinese and left 18 million people and 11 million livestock without adequate water.
Five million hectares of crops have been affected, and direct economic losses are already estimated at more than 24 billion yuan.
The water released Wednesday was enough to irrigate just two thirds of the farmland in Shiguan. "We have already told the remaining one third of villagers to plant corn, beans and other crops that need less water," a villager named Xu Xuewen told the Global Times.
The precious water from the reservoir is only for irrigation, while water for daily use is supposed to come from wells the villagers dig. But the only well in Shiguan was filled in years ago. Many have tried digging more wells, Li said.
In Luliang county, the water and power supply is available for just two hours a day, and power has already been cut off for a few days in small villages such as Shiguan.
According to local forecasters, a spell of light rain is expected today in Luliang.
The worst drought in decades continues to ravage southwest China and threatens to further affect more regions, forcing thousands of villagers out of their home villages to find jobs in less-affected cities and prompting stepped-up relief efforts.
In Yanshan county, Yunnan, almost 5,000 villagers have been forced to work in other areas so far, doubling the number in the same period of last year.
Yanshan, one of the most affected areas in the province, has a population of 450,000, of whom 280,000 have been suffering from a drinking-water shortage, local authorities said.
Village leaders expected 20,000 more villagers to leave and work in less-affected areas, which will free up water for those remaining.
