The sustained drought in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong
continues to worsen, threatening the province's late rice harvest
as well as other crops.
By Saturday, more than 730,000 hectares of farmland were
reported to have been affected, an increase of 20,000 hectares from
the figure reported at the end of October. More than 36,667
hectares are barren, an increase of 2,667 hectares compared with
last month's data.
Some 85 cities and counties in Guangdong, or more than 80
percent of the province's area, have been affected by the drought,
an official from the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Water
Conservation reported on Sunday.
Also on Sunday, quotas for water to Guangzhou, the provincial
capital, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, Dongguan, Huizhou and
other cities in the eastern Pearl River Delta were reduced by 10
percent.
The water flow on the Dongjiang River, a major tributary of the
Pearl River, has dropped at least 80 percent since autumn last
year.
The Dongjiang, located in eastern Guangdong, provides drinking
water to more than 36 million people.
The water shortage in the eastern part of Guangdong alone is now
more than 500 million tons, the water conservation official told
China Daily.
The cities where drought has hit hardest include Shaoguan,
Qingyuan, Zhaoqing, Yunfu, Zhangjiang, Maoming and Meizhou in the
western and northern parts of the province.
The Guangdong provincial government is planning to establish a
special task force that will guide and coordinate anti-drought
efforts and rationalize use of water resources.
Provincial Vice Governor Li Ronggen has urged government
departments and officials to give priority to ensuring drinking
water supplies to local people and domestic animals.
(China Daily November 22, 2004)
