Beginning in June, the drought has caused 35 percent of small reservoirs and more than 50 percent of small and medium sized rivers in Henan province to dry up.
According to the Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquaters the precipitation in the province is 50-70 per cent less than past averages. Overall, the drought has affected more than 185,000 people and damaged about 900,666 hectares of farmland overall.
Baiguishan Reservoir, the major source of drinking water in the city of Pingdingshan, is at dangerously low levels, with bare weeds are growing on the reservoir bottom.
Shi Haibo, Henan food control and drought relief headquarters inspector, said they have launched an emergency response plan which involves dredging rivers, pumping and transporting water from other regions in order to irrigate the fields.
According to the Zhengzhou Evening News, all the wells in Xingyao, composed of nine villages with 930 people, have dried up. The people have to travel to other villages to find water. Xingrong, a villager in Chong Villiage, says that "people need to go down into the well with a scoop and scoop up water." People are lining up 24 hours a day waiting for water, he added.
In the provincial capital Zhengzhou, there has been no tap water for 20 days, showing that this drought is not only threatening countryside but major cities as well.
CCTV revealed that the local government has been appealing to people to conserve water: water supplies for car washes, commercial swimming pools and public baths have all been cut off. All major water-consuming enterprises have been ordered to restrict their consumption as well.
The Henan Bureau of Meterology Wether forecast on 30 July shows there will not be significant rainfall in the province in the coming days to combat the drought.
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