BEIJING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Some 53.1 million people in northern China have benefited from the country's massive water diversion project which has so far transferred 10 billion cubic meters of water from the south to the draught-prone north, authorities announced Tuesday.

The water pumped from the Yangtze River has gone to Beijing, Tianjin and the provinces of Henan and Hebei along the middle route of the water diversion project, according to the South-to-North Water Diversion Office under the State Council.

The middle route of the project carries water through canals and pipes from Danjiangkou reservoir in central China's Hubei Province. It came into operation in late 2014.

The project has supplied 2.7 billion cubic meters of water to Beijing, serving 11 million people.

Currently about 70 percent of Beijing's water supply comes from the project. The city's per capita water resources have increased from 100 to 150 cubic meters. Previously the city's water supply came mainly from underground water.

Tianjin got 2.2 billion cubic meters of water while Henan and Hebei provinces got 3.5 billion cubic meters of water and 1.1 billion cubic meters of water respectively.

Officials with the office said the project has played "an indispensable strategic role" in helping the north ease water shortage, improve water quality and ecology, build a resource-conserving society and prevent natural disasters.