Vice-Premier on Flood and Drought Prevention in Huaihe ValleyChinese Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao has called the four provinces in the densely-populated Huaihe Valley to ensure the region does not have any major flooding during the current flood season.The vice-premier has also urged local government leaders to improve the flood control and prevention work, make sure proper measures are taken to control flooding and to evacuate local residents in time in case of emergency. Wen made the remarks during his four-day inspection tour of the Huaihe Valley, which ended Tuesday. The Huaihe River runs through Henan Province in central China and Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces in east China. More than 100 million people live in these provinces which are major grain producer centers of the country. Flood control projects and the reinforcement of dykes along dangerous sections of rivers and reservoirs should be implemented as soon as possible, the vice-premier said. He also said harnessing the Huaihe River is a top priority, and urged improvement in the construction of flood and water-logging control projects along the river and its tributaries. On the drought situation in the valley and other part of the country, the vice-premier said water-saving irrigation, and better management of water resources should be encouraged to fight droughts. Conserving water will alleviate water shortages in the valley, he said. Wen called on provincial governments to focus on industrial waste water which is illegally discharged into the river system by some factories. |
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