China's Ministry of Finance announced on Monday it would
allocate 70 million yuan (9.46 million U.S. dollars) to finance
drought relief programs in south China.
The money would go to the provinces and regions of Jiangxi,
Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi and Guizhou, said the ministry in
a statement.
Since October, scant rainfall and warm weather have caused
severe drought in southern regions, affecting more than one million
hectares of farmland and resulting in a shortage of water supply in
some areas.
From October to November, the Pearl River saw the minimum
rainfall in five decades.
Governments of drought-hit regions have taken measures to
maintain water supplies.
Vice Premier Hui Liangyu has said the top priority of the
current fight against the drought should be maintaining drinking
water safety.
Hui, also head of Office of State Flood Control and Drought
Relief Headquarters (SFDH), urged more efforts to prepare for the
prolonged drought, which was expected to last until next
spring.
The SFDH has issued an urgent circular to concerned departments,
requiring them to intensify water conservancy development, take
measures to ensure drinking water safety and maintain agricultural
water supplies for the winter and spring.
It has sent four groups of experts to supervise drought-fighting
work.
To protect water security in the Pearl River Delta, the SFDH
also required local headquarters along the Pearl River to collect
data on real-time stream flow in the river and closely monitor salt
tides from this month.
(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2007)
