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Drought causes direct economic losses of $376 m in Jiangsu

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-09 16:14

BEIJING - A drought that has plagued the Yangtze River's downstream provinces for the last two months has caused direct economic losses of 2.44 billion yuan (about $376 million) in East China's Jiangsu province, according to official statistics issued Thursday.

The drought has affected 1.09 million people in Jiangsu so far, and these people are in urgent need of government relief, said a statement from the National Commission for Disaster Reduction (NCDR), citing reports from the province's civil affairs agency.

The worst drought to hit the region in decades has impacted a total of 617,600 hectares of farms, of which 12,600 hectares have been rendered unuseable, the statement said.

The NCDR and the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Thursday dispatched a disaster survey team to Jiangsu as part of the country's overall drought relief efforts.

China's central government has already sent similar teams to the drought-hit provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui over the past three weeks. The government has also allocated 105 million yuan in subsidies to aid those who have been negatively impacted by the drought.