Drought Plagues Northern China

Moving on to mainland China where a severe drought has hit the north of the country. Now hundreds of thousands of people are facing shortages of drinking water. The Office of State Flood Control and Relief headquarters issued an alert on Saturday the 15th. Authorities have been urged to manage water supplies carefully across Shanxi, Liaoning and Jilin provinces and Inner Mongolia. At least 1,300 people in Inner Mongolia are depending on water transported in by vehicles. State run media says the drought has dried up large numbers of wells and reservoirs, the main source of drinking water for residents in the region. Farmers in Jilin Province are relying on sprinklers to water their crops. More than 400-thousand people are struggling to get access to drinking water, with more than 12-thousand residential wells depleted. The insufficient water supply has forced many residents to sell livestock to reduce water consumption. About half of the countrys farmland has been affected by the drought. However, news raising hopes are kicking in after weeks of dry weather and soaring temperatures. Meteorologists say heavy rain began falling on some of the parched areas on Sunday, and that more is expected over the next few days.