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War declared on drought
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CHINESE officials will do all they can to make sure there is enough water for everybody this year, but they warned it was an uphill battle against the worst drought in more than a decade, State media reported on Saturday.
“Meteorological data ... show that China will have a dry climate this year, hence the prospects of drought relief are not too good,” the Xinhua News Agency said, citing a meeting of the State flood control and drought relief headquarters.
The meeting concluded that in order to fight drought, top priority should be given to water-saving measures, while officials at all levels should be held responsible for their decisions, Xinhua said.
Official media said earlier last week that millions of hectares of farmland had been scorched and 16 million people were short of water as China suffered the most persistent and widespread drought since 1990.
The drought, which has lasted for nearly 100 days, is affecting densely populated regions along the Yellow and Huai rivers, while levels of water in reservoirs in North and Northeast China have dropped by up to 46 per cent.
Drought prevention officials have also said grain crops are being damaged, with an estimated 227,000 hectares planted in summer crops expected to yield nothing.(SD-Agencies)
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