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Drought plagues China as downpour hits south

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-30 21:21

BEIJING: A serious drought has hit northwest China's Gansu Province and led to a shortage of drinking water for 230,000 people, while rainstorms ravage the country's southern parts, according to provincial weather reports Tuesday.

Precipitation has been rare since May in the mountainous regions in central and east Gansu. In addition to causing water shortage for humans, the drought also affected 1.05 million hectares of farmland, said the provincial headquarters of flood control and drought relief Tuesday.

Related readings:  Water, food shortages for 1.37m after drought  Drought eases in China's major grain production base  Storms and downpours sweep China, killing at least 50  China urged to step up flood, drought prevention  South China braces for tropical storm Nangka

In a bid to reduce the impact of the drought, local authorities in the affected seeded the clouds, repaired and constructed water conservancy facilities and mobilized local farmers to seek jobs in cities.

The Gansu observatory said the drought is expected to continue until mid July.

Guizhou and Zhejiang provinces in the country's south received the most rainfall so far this year.

The headquarters of flood control in Guizhou said Tuesday that two people have died and another person is missing as the province has been hit hard by torrential rains since Monday morning.

A total of 1,140 people in Guizhou were temporarily evacuated from their homes because of the rain, while hundreds of houses have collapsed and crops on 110,300 hectares have been damaged. Direct economic losses from the rains exceeded 70 million yuan (US$10.25 million), the headquarters said.

The headquarters expected casualties and economic losses could grow as it continues to rain.

The headquarters of flood control in Zhejiang has ordered a close watch on all reservoirs, ponds and dikes.