Severe rainstorms have battered key regions across China over the past weeks. Many lives have been lost and property worth millions destroyed. River water levels have risen to the highest in decades.

In such a grim context, providing relief to disaster stricken residents in flood-hit areas and evacuating them to safety is the top priority.

Admittedly, both the central as well as the local governments have done a fine job under the circumstances.

Top leaders too have responded immediately to the dire situation.

In fact, Premier Wen Jiabao went to Wangjiaba, a major flood control dam on the Huaihe River, last Saturday to ensure that work on making the dyke safe against rising waters is egged on.

This is the time of year when the south and east are deluged by rain, and the key priority for governments at all levels must be to save lives and reduce the damage.

This time, however, the rainstorms have been particularly vicious and have lasted longer than usual. This not only has made flood control work harder than before, but also highlighted the lack of effort and investment into consolidating river dykes and other flood control facilities by local governments.

In the city of Guang'an, Sichuan province, which was inundated by flood waters several meters deep, the local government even admitted that construction projects on a major riverbed had worsened the flood.

This kind of lax attitude during the non-flood season is precisely to blame for an otherwise controllable phenomenon.

As Premier Wen said, earnest efforts must be made to further strengthen flood control facilities. Only then will more lives be saved and property losses curtailed during the flood season.