China is injecting a record 4 billion yuan (US$481 million) into
rural water supply projects aimed at ensuring sufficient and clean
drinking water for more than 24 million poor rural residents.
Zhai Haohui, vice-minister of water resources, was confident that
such massive investment will help solve the shortage of drinking
water.
Water shortage has become a major factor restricting the
improvement of the living standards of the rural poor.
"Many of the thirsty poor have to fetch drinking water from sources
more than 10 km from their homes, while some have to drink water
with high fluorine or arsenic content that is harmful to their
health," an expert with the ministry said.
In
the year 2000, China launched a plan to raise 24 million rural
people, the last of its 30 million still in chronic poverty, out of
destitution by improving their water supplies and irrigation
systems.
Their plight was caused by a lack of sufficient and clean drinking
water and insufficient water for irrigation, caused by a worsening
local ecological environment and water-related calamities, such as
droughts and soil erosion.
During the 1996-2000 period, water supply projects have ensured
drinking water for 225 million rural people.
At
present, the number of farmers enjoying tapped-in water has reached
370 million.
However, some 24 million farmers in China's hinterland still have
great difficulty getting water because of harsh local natural
conditions.
"Our anti-poverty program is designed to get this 24 million access
to drinkable water by 2003," Zhai said yesterday at a meeting on
the issue.
(China
Daily December 7, 2001)