The worst drought in six decades in Southwest China has plunged more than 2 million people back into poverty, the country's poverty alleviation body has said.
More than 8 million people are facing a grain shortage due to the lingering drought in the southwestern province of Yunnan, a senior provincial official said.
Lack of rain results in poverty for many
Lining up to get a few litres of water; no bathing or tooth brushing for weeks; clouds of flies crawling on the bed sheets, along the edges of bowls, and over the latrines; green vegetables a rarity in their diet. These are the realities of daily life for more than 24,000 students and teachers in 68 boarding schools in Shizong County, one of the areas worst-hit by the severe drought in Southwest China’s Yunnan province.
The flower industry has been badly hit by the worst drought in a century, with 80 percent of flower beds drying up in the province.
The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southwest China Friday said it had lowered its grain output target for 2010 by 1.02 percent, as the worst drought in decades is likely to curtail production in the region.
The drought in southwest China has produced a serious impact on the life of the locals and economic development, leaving 24.25 million people and 15.84 million farm animals short of water.
The worsening drought in southwest China could force the Longtan hydropower station, the country's second largest in operation, to halt power generation in another month, a company official said Tuesday.
An aerial view of the severely drought-hit area in Southwest China's Yunnan province March 26, 2010. The number of affected people lacking drinking water has now reached 8,280,000, an increase of some 100,000 from just a week ago, according to Yunnan flood control and drought relief.
China's sugar production would drop by nearly 10 percent as the severest drought in a century continued to devastate sugar cane croplands in the country's south, industry associations said Tuesday.
Millions of farmers in Yunnan province are worried because the severe drought has erased their summer harvest and threatened the upcoming spring plowing season.Rice price rises Animals suffer from drought
Full coverage: Severe drought hits SW China
Huangguoshu Waterfall is facing the worst water scarcity in its history as the city is hit by a severe drought.
The dry weather that has plagued southwestern China since last fall has been the major cause of the frequent forest fires in the region, China's forest fire prevention authority said Friday.
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