A prolonged drought has left nearly four million people and 4.46
million livestock short of drinking water in China's southwestern
province of Sichuan.
Eighty counties or cities have had 20 to 40 days of drought
since this summer, according to the Sichuan provincial
meteorological bureau.
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About 110,000 people have to depend on water transported by
vehicles, said the provincial water resources department.
Though there were rainfalls in May in the province, they only
fell in certain areas, the bureau said.
The drought has made it impossible for the plantation of paddy
in large tracts of the farmland. Some crops have dried up amid
lasting drought.
The bureau has dispatched more than 20 work teams to carry out
drought-relief work for farmers.
(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2007)
