The central government Thursday earmarked 5 million yuan
(US$604,000) in emergency funds for southwest China's
flood-stricken Sichuan, one of the two worst-hit provinces of this
summer's regional floods.
The central government Thursday earmarked 5 million yuan
(US$604,000) in emergency funds for southwest China's
flood-stricken Sichuan, one of the two worst-hit provinces of this
summer's regional floods.
Following the 8 million yuan (US$966,000) allocated to Northwest
China's Shaanxi Province on Wednesday, "this was the second batch
of emergency funds offered to aid thousands of victims with food,
clothing and tents," Zhang Xiaoning, an official at the Ministry of
Civil Affairs, told China Daily Thursday.
By
Thursday, the first batch of aid including food, medicine, water
and tents, arrived in Foping, the worst flooded area in Shaanxi
this summer.
Armed policemen and army soldiers carried most of the aid as many
roads remained broken. Central and local governments are
intensifying rescue and relief operations while soldiers continue
to rescue and search for missing people.
Relief officials at the Ministry of Civil Affairs made it clear
that, "at the moment, the most urgent goods needed by people in
flooded areas are food, drinking water, fuel and tents."
Thursday, roads and communications to the flood-stricken areas
began to return to normal while preventions against disease were
also under way.
However, rescuers now have the grim task of finding the missing
residents - many victims are farmers that were planting crops and
living in dried-out river and stream beds in the region that had
been victimized by several years of drought, said Deng Jian, an
official with the State Flood-Control and Drought Prevention
Headquarters.
Over the past week, regional floods have plagued more than 30
million people in Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing Municipality and
Guizhou Province in Southwest China and Hubei Province in Central
China.
The death toll in these regions reached 206 Thursday, with hundreds
still missing and thousands of locals left homeless.
The floods, caused by torrential rain and consequent landslides
have swept over 98 counties in Shaanxi and 52 areas in Sichuan.
Relief work is continuing in Shaanxi's flood-stricken areas and
some infrastructure destroyed by the flood have been put back into
operation, according to reports from Xi'an.
At
present, 10 of 13 national and provincial highways have been cut
off by the flood caused by heavy rain that occurred from June 8 to
10.
"Repairs on the railway bridge are going fast," said Pan Liansheng,
Shaanxi's deputy governor.
The bridge is in the east suburban area of Xi'an, capital of
Shaanxi Province on the Lanzhou-Lianyungang Railway, one of China's
most important railways that link coastal areas and the western
region.
Some trains will not operate from Xi'an railway station due to
further repairs being carried out.
The deputy governor said he hoped that "tourists travelling to
Xi'an should change their timetable."
He
noted: "The situation will greatly affect the tourist industry in
the province during the summer."
In
Foping, the worst flood-stricken mountainous county in southern
Shaanxi, where all the infrastructure were destroyed by the flood
and communication, transportation, water and power supplies were
cut off, local residents received aid on Wednesday.
(China
Daily June 14, 2002)