12 million people in Yunnan affected by drought   

综述：云南干旱呈常态化趋势 已致千万余人受灾

记者8日从云南省民政厅获悉，2012年10月以来发生的干旱至今已造成该省15个州(市)1199.9万人受灾，直接经济损失58.6亿元人民币。且从过去四年至今，云南严重干旱正呈常态化趋势发展。

Kunming (CNS) -- A total of 11.9 million people in Yunnan province have been affected by the lingering drought that began last October, according to local department of civil affairs on Monday.

Since the beginning of this year, the number of drought-hit regions in Yunnan has increased from five to 15, said the department.

As of Monday, 3.47 million local people have limited access to drinking water, and 2.56 million people are in bad need of assistance.

A total of 1.58 million large livestock have limited drinking water, and the drought has affected more than 1.26 million hectares of farmland in the province, according to the department.

Local flood control and drought relief headquarters in Yunnan issued a level-2 emergency response plan on April 3 to address the ongoing drought.