Relief work enhanced as severe drought expands in N China

BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Chinese media) -- Severe drought in

northern China has affected about 145 million mu (9.67 million hectares) of

crops, 40 million mu more than the same period last winter, according to the

Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Sunday.

About 137 million mu of wheat cropland was threatened

by the drought, which began last November, including 39.9 million mu seriously

affected.

Drought had left 3.7 million people and 1.85 million

livestock with no access to drinking water, according to sources with the

office.

The headquarters has sent four working teams to eight

crop-producing provinces which were worst affected, including Hebei, Shaanxi,

Anhui and Jiangsu, to instruct farmers on the relief work.

Secretary of the office E Jingpin said Sunday at a

working conference that local relief teams should fully assess the situation and

work out solutions tailored for the conditions.

He said the water resources allocation should be

integrated to ensure equal distribution.

Tohe office issued an emergency notice to the

drought-hit provinces and stressed the relief work should be given priority.

Efforts should be made to ensure residents had drinking water and to expand the

irrigation areas.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has allocated 100

million yuan (14.6 million U.S. dollars) of emergency funding to help farmers

weather the drought.

E said about 1.38 billion yuan had been used to fund

the relief work since the end of December. Some 74.60 million mu of farmland had

been irrigated, and drinking water shortages had been eased for about 500,000

people and 280,000 livestock.