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| Two women fetch drinking water at a water supply point of Wenqian village at Dongshan Township in Bama Yao Autonomous County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 23, 2010. Thirteen of total fourteen cities in Guangxi have been suffered with severe drought, and 7.82 million people are affected by the drought, according to local bureau of civil affairs. (Xinhua/Li Bin) |
BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The severe drought in China's southwest had worsened as affected areas had received little rainfall in the past two weeks, said China's drought relief authorities Tuesday.
It had left 18.05 million people and 10.17 million livestock short of drinking water and affected 96.54 million Mu (about 6.44 million hectares) of arable land, said the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters (SFDH).
To ensure the safety of drinking water, local governments had implemented a range of emergency measures, the SFDH said.
Local authorities in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi had built 3,092 water diversion systems and 58,600 irrigation works, and dug 11,200 wells, according to the SFDH.
During a three-day trip to Yunnan Province last week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called for intensified and consistent efforts to relieve the drought and help the affected people overcome their difficulties.
