Yunnan battles severe drought

Yunnan province in Southwest China is taking multiple measures to tackle a severe drought that is hitting most of its cities and prefectures.

More than 90 percent of the province's monitoring stations - that is 114 stations - have detected meteorological drought, with 85 of them reporting serious conditions, according to a report by Yunnan News Website, quoting the province's meteorological watchdog.

Statistics from the Department of Emergency Management of Yunnan Province showed that more than 870,000 people in the province's 12 cities and prefectures were affected by the drought to different degrees in the first quarter, including 170,000 residents that are in need of assistance due to the shortage of drinking water.

"Since the beginning of the year, Kunming has seen only 6.9 millimeters of precipitation, about 90 percent less than the usual 66 mm in common years," Li Xiaopeng, head of Kunming Meteorological Observatory, was quoted as saying by China News Website.

So far, this year's precipitation in Kunming has been the least since 1985, Li added.

For the whole province, the year's average precipitation was 32.9 mm, 64 percent less than the same period of common years, and the least in the same period of the past decade. The province's average temperature was 14.1 degrees Celsius, 0.9 C higher than that of the same period of common years, according to Yunnan Meteorological Service.

It has organized artificial rainfall in different areas of the 12 cities and prefectures that are being hit by the drought. Preparations are also underway for water storage to ensure water supply and measures are being taken to prevent forest fire.

The province's department of finance will allocate 50 million yuan ($7.3 million) for drought relief work across Yunnan, making every effort to ensure the safety of water supply for people's production and living, according to the department.

Many districts and counties in Kunming and Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture issued orange drought alerts on Tuesday. China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.