China's Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, known for their rivers and lakes, are often portrayed as lands abundant with rice and fish. However, even they have not been spared by a drought that has plagued a wide swathe of south and east China since August, usually part of the rainy season. The drought has damaged crops and left 2 million people suffering water shortages and thousands of boats grounded on the shallow rivers or cracked riverbeds.
The provinces, which often see devastating floods in summer, grabbed media headlines this month as the drought worsened. Hunan received 60 percent less rain than normal in August and September. Jiangxi received 60 percent less in September and 90 percent in October. The drought was worsened by unusually high temperatures. The average temperature in Jiangxi was 2.5 degrees Celsius higher than average, and the highest since 1963.
As a result, millions of residents living along the main tributaries of Yangtze, the country's largest river, and around the lakes, are suffering from water shortages.
Huangjia village, in Jiangxi's Fengxin County, is among the hardest hit. Villagers have no other water sources and water is being rationed out by the local government.
Meteorologists and the public blamed dams on the Yangtze and its tributaries and the decline in rainfall for the water crisis. From late summer to autumn, most southern provinces only received half their average rainfall.
Source: chinapost.com
Back to News Headlines