Looking at the withered rice in the field, Luo Zhaohuai lets out
a helpless sigh.
August should have been harvest season for the 53-year-old
farmer in Chongqing Municipality in southwestern
China.
However, the plot that has produced at least 600 kilograms of
rice in past years is likely to yield nothing for him this
year.
The culprit is the severe three-month drought that has plagued
his hometown, located in the mountainous countryside of Qijiang
County in Chongqing.
"Sweet potatoes also refuse to grow in the arid land," said Luo.
"So we might have food shortages next year." Rice and sweet
potatoes are the local people's staple food.
Like many of the villagers, Luo, a native of Fuxing Village,
makes his living from the land. But his farm has had no rain since
mid-May.
"For us who depend on heaven's blessings for food, this disaster
is a deadly blow," he said.
"All we can do is to pray for rain," he added, wiping off the
sweat flowing from his forehead.
Farmland has cracked, crops have withered, rivers have almost
dried up and local people face a serious shortage of drinking
water.
The effects of the most severe drought in 50 years are being
felt across Chongqing, which has a population of more than 31
million.
Among the hardest-hit areas is Qijiang County, around 50
kilometres from the city proper of Chongqing Municipality. The
temperature in the county reached a record 44.5 C last
Wednesday.
At least 7.7 million people have suffered from the severe
shortage of drinking water in the municipality, not to mention the
area's 7.2 million cattle.
"This is the worst drought to hit Chongqing in 50 years," said
He Lingyun, director of Chongqing's disaster relief office.
"Two-thirds of local rivers and lakes have dried up and more than
200 reservoirs are stagnant."
A local taxi driver told China Daily that floods have been an
annual feature of the sections of the Yangtze River that run
through Chongqing and the local Jialing River in August, but this
time it is the spectre of drought which is looming large.
What concerns Luo and his fellow villagers most nowadays is how
to find water to drink.
The village well has dried up and now even the dusty water at
the bottom has been scooped out. "We have to walk thirty or forty
minutes to fetch two buckets of water," he said.
With the sweltering weather, taking a bath has become a distant
dream for Luo and his fellow villagers.
"All our families share the same water to wash our faces," said
54-year-old villager Shao Shihuai.
In the jar containing the family's drinking water, lies only a
little liquid. "Maybe it's only enough for some goldfish," she
joked.
Two cows standing in Shao's courtyard breathed deeply under the
scorching sun, but there was not enough water for them to quench
their thirst.
"People are living with a severe shortage of drinking water, let
alone the cattle," said Shao. "My son walks 20 minutes to fetch
water from a pond 2 kilometres away to feed the cattle, but it's
not enough for them."
In the worst conditions, according to the woman, her family even
drink water from the pond after letting it settle for a few
hours.
"It's often very hot in summer here with temperatures reaching
around 40 C, but we've never had to go without rain for such a long
time before," she added.
Water-delivering wagons
To help alleviate the drinking water shortage, the local
government has helped tap wells to bring up underground water in
some villages.
Meanwhile, it has also sent wagons carrying water to remote
mountainous areas in need of water. Shao's village, which is 30
kilometers from Qijiang County, is among those which have received
emergency supplies.
When the wagon carrying drinking water arrived at the village
last Thursday, villagers flocked with buckets to carry water to
their homes.
"We really feel grateful for the government's care. Although the
supply is limited, it's enough for drinking and cooking," said
Shao.
According to village head Luo Yuliang, a special team in charge
of delivering water has been organized by the county government to
send water to his village twice a day since a week ago, around 9
tons per day.
Farmers have suffered worst from the continual drought. Besides
the shortage of drinking water, more than 1.3 million hectares of
cropland have been severely affected.
"All of the vegetables we plant, such as potatoes or fresh
beans, have withered, so we can't even put leaf vegetables on the
dinner table," said Shao.
The villagers hope the local government will help build a
'catch' basin in the village to solve the drinking water shortage
in future droughts.
"Who knows how long the dryness will last and when the next
drought will come?" said 53-year-old Luo Zhaohuai.
Forest fire a threat
The extreme heat and drought have also put mountain forests in
the municipality at risk as dry leaves on the ground increase the
danger of forest fires.
At least eighty fires have been caused by the scorching sun
since August 1, according to the municipality's disaster relief
office.
"We were told to be vigilant about possible fires in nearby
forests to avoid losses for our villagers," said village head Luo
Yuliang.
Last Thursday, two mountain forest fires flared up in Sanjiang
Town of the county, which is close to Luo's village. Both are
thought to have been caused by the scorching sun.
"While keeping alert for possible fires, we also imposed a ban
on local people entering the mountain forests," said Ding Shili, a
press official from the township government.
Power shortage
In urban areas, power use has soared as families, shopping malls
and hotels turn up their power-guzzling air-conditioning, competing
with factories for power supply.
However, because of low water levels in the reservoirs caused by
the drought, local hydroelectric power plants with a generating
capacity of 12 million kilowatts have had to suspend operations.
What's even worse, other power stations frequently break down
because of the soaring demand.
"There is a gap of more than 1 million kilowatts of electricity
between supply and demand," an official from the municipality's
power supply bureau was quoted as saying by local media.
(China Daily August 21, 2006)