Society

Drought cuts 230,000 people's drinking water

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-17 22:41

NANCHANG - More than 230,000 people in East China's Jiangxi province are short of drinking water amid an ongoing drought, according to local authorities.

Those facing drinking water shortages were mainly rural residents who lived in the northern part of Jiangxi, a spokesman with the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said Tuesday.

The drought that began plaguing Jiangxi in the spring this year continued into the summer, which was rare in recent years in the province, the spokesman added.

Further, during the first four months this year, the province received an average rainfall that was only half of that recorded during the same period in previous years, according to figures released by the headquarters.

Since May, five cities in northern Jiangxi have seen a 70 percent plunge in precipitations compared with that recorded during the same period in normal years.

Also, a total of 131 large and medium-sized pumping stations in northern Jiangxi failed to function properly due to low water levels in rivers and lakes, said the spokesman.

The headquarters were providing drought-relief funds and pumping equipment to worst-hit areas, he said.