150,000 people thirst in Huili County, SW China

Huili (CNS) – The drought situation has worsened in Huili County of Sichuan Province, where 153,515 people and 173,422 livestock suffer from a drinking water shortage. Some 177,400 mu of farm land are drought-stricken, and 64,140 mu are now deemed incapable of producing any harvest this year.

The middle and lower reaches of the Chenghe River and the basin along the Jinsha River has sustained the region's major damage.

Yangjiaba, a remote township that people from Huili County need five hours to reach by vehicle, is now oppressed by drought, a blow following its earthquake damage on August 30, 2008.

"Since last August, not a single drop of rain has fallen on the land," said town head Li Zhidan, "3,500 people here are thirsting for adequate drinking water."

In the town's Zhuangfang Village, seniors and children make up eighty percent of the residents while the able-bodied young adult population tends to vacate it for work. "It takes an hour to fetch water from the Chenghe River," said village secretary Liu Huayou, "and that's a heavy burden for kids and the elderly."

Most agricultural crops have withered to death and only mango trees cling to life now, but as it is the flowering season they too have urgent water needs, said Liu.

A small irrigation station funded by villagers is under emergency construction on the banks of the Huihe River, added Liu, so the whole village will have water to use when the electricity is on.