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.