South China in grip of worst drougt in memory

The whole of Southern China is in the grip of the worst drought in living memory, leaving at least 18 million people without access to drinking water, according to reports.

A media despatch said there is not a single drop of water in the three wells of Xiazha village in Guangxi province for the first time since 1517. The situation is no different across Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Chongqing provinces, particularly in the regions which largely depend on wells for irrigation and drinking water. There is little water to be found when new wells are dug even upto a depth of several hundred feet below ground.

Army has been called to help the local authorities in delivering 1.4 million tons of emergency food. Thousands of trucks are mobilised to deliver water.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has made a personal visit to the region to reassure villagers, some of whom are having to trek more than 12 miles a day to collect water.

More than 5,000 villagers in Yunnan have been forced to leave home and camp near streams in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Government estimates the cost of crop failure and fall in power generation from the region’s network of hydroelectric dams at around 24bn yuan.

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