CHINESE DROUGHT AFFECTS 18 MILLION PEOPLE

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Date: Monday August 21, 2006 01:00:00 pm
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    Chinese drought affects millions
    At
    least 18 million people have been affected by China’s worst drought in
    50 years, according to the state news agency Xinhua.The south-western
    region of Chongqing has been worst hit, but areas of Sichuan and
    Liaoning are also affected.In Chongqing there has been no rain for more
    than 70 days, and two-thirds of the rivers have dried up, Xinhua
    said.Residents in some mountain villages are having to walk up to 2km
    (1.25 miles) to get water.At least one person is said to have died from
    heatstroke, and Xinhua estimates the drought has caused economic losses
    of 11.74bn yuan ($1.24bn).

    Weather extremes
    The Chinese
    Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Thursday that in 2006, China had
    faced its most severe natural disasters for six years.By 15 August this
    year, natural disasters had killed 2,006 people, affected more than
    316m others and caused economic losses of 160bn yuan ($20bn), the
    ministry estimated, according to Xinhua.Earlier this year, some parts
    of China were hit by heavy snowfall, while in recent months there have
    been several deadly typhoons, each killing hundreds of people.This
    drought is again affecting millions of people. According to Xinhua, 10m
    people in Sichuan, nearly 8m in Chongqing and 600,000 in Liaoning do
    not have enough access to drinking water at the moment.The problem has
    also affected huge areas of farmland, with crop failures and the death
    of cattle.The Sichuan meteorological bureau has forecast that the
    drought will continue, at least for the next few days.

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