China's Premier Calls for Flood Control

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, May 19, 2003

China's Premier Calls for Flood Control

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has urged governments at various levels to pay due attention to flood control while fighting SARS epidemic. Southern and central China were hit by severe floods over the weekend, while the region along the Yellow River is facing the most severe water shortage since 1949.

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South China Suffers Flood

Southern and central China were hit by severe floods over the weekend, while the region along the Yellow River is facing the most severe water shortage since 1949.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has urged governments at various levels to pay due attention to flood control while fighting SARS epidemic.

The order came after mountain floods triggered by continuous torrential rain in the past week killed 25 people and left 13 missing in Hunan Province, and torrential rains in south China's Guangdong Province on May 16 and 17 left 15 people dead and eight others missing.

In an instruction made public on Sunday, the premier said governments, including water resources departments, at all levels should attach great importance to flood control and drought prevention to ensure the safety of people and the normal performance of the economy in areas hit by floods even as the country was fighting severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

According to a report released by the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, seven provincial areas experienced heavy rains from May 12 to 18.

The areas include south China's Hunan and Guangdong Provinces, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, east China's Jiangxi and Fujian Provinces, and southwest China's Guizhou Province.

The heavy rainfall in Guangdong has caused floods, landslides and damaged houses, roads and water conservation, power supply and telecommunications facilities in rainstorm-hit areas.

It is estimated that the disaster has resulted in direct economic losses to talling over 300 million (US$36 million).

Preliminary investigations show that a total of 406,000 people in 89 towns and six counties of Meizhou City suffered from the heavy shower, with seven killed and two others missing, according to the provincial Bureau of Water Resources.

Heavy rainfall killed eight people in Heyuan and Shaoguan cities, the bureau added.

Three special work teams have been dispatched by the provincial government to the three cities to guide the rescue efforts and help resettle people affected by the disaster.

The search for missing people is still going on.

The first flood peak of the Xiangjiang River is expected to arrive at the Changsha, capital of Hunan, Monday.

The Xiangjiang River is the major river in the province, originating in South China's Guangxi and flowing into the Dongting Lake.

It is estimated that the river's water level at Changsha will reach 38.3-38.7 metres Monday, 3.3-3.7 metres above warning stage.

The local hydrological department warned that if heavy rain continues to hit the city, the figure could get even higher in the following days.

Four people have been killed in Hunan's Zhuzhou as a result of torrential rain which has fallen there since Thursday. Floods caused by the rain also resulted in losses of 130 million yuan (US$15.7 million).

Meanwhile, water volume of the Yellow River is expected to fall to 50-year lows, sources with the Yellow River Conservancy Commission predicted.

The eight provinces and autonomous regions along the river -- Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and Shandong -- will therefore face their most difficult situation since 1949.

Agricultural output in this region is expected to witness a sharp decline.

Water volume in major sections of the Yellow River from January to July 10 will be 8.2 billion cubic metres, 5.5 billion less than the figure in 1997, the most droughty year in recorded history.

"The reason of the water shortage is not only the climate, but also the big increase of water usage in the Yellow River area,'' Professor Hong Shangchi of the commission said.

Hong said the amount of water usage in the area has already over passed its capacity.

Experts have pointed out that the water shortage in the Yellow River will continue for a rather long time before the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is concluded.

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