Half a million people in southwest China's Chongqing municipality are short of drinking water due to a lingering drought, drought relief headquarters said Wednesday.

The drought has left 200,000 livestock short of drinking water and withered 1 million mu (66,666.7 hectares) of crops, according to the municipal flood control and drought relief headquarters.

More than 30,000 people are relying on delivered water on a daily basis, it said.

Chongqing has suffered from a drought that began in August 2011 due to a persistent shortage of rainfall, with the mountainous areas of Rongchang county, Wanzhou district, Fengdu county and Fuling district hardest hit.

The city has received an average of just 36 millimeters of rainfall since January, 40 percent less than normal.

Chongqing has mobilized 200,000 people to carry out drought relief work since last winter.

Rainfall is forecast for Chongqing from Wednesday night to Thursday, which will mitigate the drought to some degree, according to the municipal meteorological center.