The central government has ordered water facilities in Southwest
China's Sichuan Province to help the drought-stricken
city of Chongqing, the largest municipality in
China.
From Friday, as requested by the State Headquarters for Flood
and Drought-Control, seven hydropower stations started pumping
water into the Jialing River, the most important water resource for
the city of 30 million.
Located in the upper reaches of the river, the hydropower
stations are expected to discharge a total of 8 million cubic
meters of water by Saturday.
Lu Feng, spokesman of the Chongqing Water Conservancy Bureau,
told China Daily, "Sichuan provincial government has
promised to supply 8 million cubic meters of water every day until
the arrival of the Jialing flood season," which usually begins on
May 1.
"The amount of water will be enough to maintain the normal water
level of the Jialing River and ensure adequate water in major urban
areas of Chongqing," he said.
He said the Chongqing municipal government had written to thank
the Sichuan provincial government.
"Sichuan could face difficulties in generating enough power for
its own use and could suffer from economic losses," Lu said.
Sichuan is the country's largest province in terms of
exploitable hydropower resources.
Severe drought since last autumn has had a debilitating effect
on Chongqing, leaving 1.5 million people and 980,000 livestock
short of drinking water in its 14 districts and counties.
The amount of water stored in Chongqing's reservoirs is about
1.17 billion cubic meters, less than half of normal storage.
Although the city's major urban areas will now have enough
water, thanks to help from Sichuan, Chongqing has to send water
trucks into the hard-hit rural areas to deliver drinking water to
13,500 people, Lu said.
On Tuesday, Chongqing started digging wells in its rural areas.
"It plans to dig between 13,000 and 15,000 wells," said Yu Yuanmu,
vice-mayor of Chongqing.
The Chongqing Municipal Hydrological Bureau said water levels in
the Yangtze and Jialing rivers had declined sharply in recent weeks
due to a lack of rainfall.
Impact on shipping
The low water levels have played havoc with shipping. A cargo
ship carrying 1,400 tons of timber was stranded last Sunday near
the city's Xinggang Port.
On Monday, the Chongqing Maritime Bureau suspended shipping in
the area between 12:30 P.M. and 2:30 P.M. each day so that dredging
works could be carried out, said Zhang Li, an official with the
Chongqing Waterway Bureau.
Chongqing is still reeling from a severe drought last summer,
the worst in decades, which resulted in the municipal government's
decision to send 100,000 farmers to northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to pick
cotton to mitigate their economic losses, Lu said.
(China Daily March 3, 2007)
