BEIJING, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The central government has earmarked 490 million yuan (about 68.08 million U.S. dollars) from the central budget to support flood control and drought relief work in 28 provincial-level regions and two cities.

In the fund, 450 million yuan was allocated to ensure safety in the flood season at local levels and to repair damaged water conservancy facilities in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The rest of the fund was used for drought relief in Yunnan Province, according to the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Finance.

With the extreme weather forecast for the flood season and as floods hit several rivers since the beginning of the flooding season this year, the Chinese water authority warned that the overall flood control situation would be grim.

While scaling up financial support, the two ministries urged departments at all levels to beef up the repair of damaged flood control facilities as quickly as possible before entering the major flood period.

Meanwhile, the local department in Yunnan was instructed to establish water supply facilities promptly to reduce losses and effects of the drought.