Chongqing in China's sweltering southwest said
it has turned 18 more former air-raid shelters into places where
local residents, especially low income earners, can escape the
summer heat.
According to Tang Zhiming, director of the Chongqing Municipal
Air Defense Shelters Office, this summer a total of 59 air raid
shelters will be used as cool-off venues.
"The shelters can accommodate a total of 10,000 people during
the summer heat," said Tang.
Only 40 shelters were used for the purpose last year.
"The newly added shelters are all in areas where there are a lot
of low-income people. We spent about 500,000 yuan refurbishing the
shelters -- putting in tables and benches, tap water and book
stands, so that the needy who cannot afford air conditioning at
home can spend the summer more comfortably," said Tang.
"Money-making activities will be banned at the refurbished
shelters -- we want ordinary people to be able to go there and cool
off free of charge," said Tang, who said the general public would
supervise the system and should report any violations.
Chongqing, a mountainous city located on the intersection of the
upper Yangtze and Jialing River, is renowned for its hot
weather.
The teeming municipality has 31 million people, eighty percent
of whom live in rural counties. About 6 million people live in
Chongqing city proper, including about 800,000 who depend on the
minimum living allowance provided by the government. Many of these
people have no air conditioning at home.
Chongqing began to open air raid shelters as places where
citizens could escape the searing summer heat in 2003.
The city experienced a nightmarish summer last year with a
prolonged heat wave and drought. In some parts of the city, there
were 25 successive days when the temperature was officially
reported to have climbed above 40 degrees.
On Aug. 15 the temperature reached 44.5 degrees Celsius in
Qijiang County, the highest temperature since records began to be
kept 53 years ago. Some 20,000 people suffered sunstroke.
Already this spring Chongqing's temperatures are higher than
normal with the mercury passing 33 degrees Celsius on some days in
March.
In the last few days, rain has kept temperatures in the city
down to a comfortable 18-26 degrees but the mercury was expected to
start rising again on Wednesday.
(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2007)