Villagers Battle Drought in SW China

China's meteorological authorities say there will be no major rainfall in drought-hit Southwestern China in the next couple of days, and the risk of forest fires is still very high.

The worst draught in 60 years has been plaguing 15 provinces and regions since last fall.

Zhao Jianfu reports.

Tan Kang lives in Bamboo, a small mountainous village of only 21 households in Southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Every morning, he gets up early, brings all his empty liquor bottles, and joins the line at the assembly spot to get drinking water supplies.

Wei Jiangyan says most villagers will not fill their tanks full because they are not strong enough to carry them all the way back home.

"Of course we could use the water one more day if our bottles were full, but most of us cannot carry them back home."

In Yunnan Province, the worst-hit region, more than 6 million people do not have adequate drinking water and some 3.5 million hectares of crops have been affected.

In Baboon Village, people have gotten used to carrying water down the rough mountain roads every day.

Tan Kang loaded some of the bottles on his shoulders and others on his horse, but the animal could not take the weight and suddenly collapsed.

"It carried too many bottles on the bumpy road. You see, those ropes snapped."

Halfway down the mountain, 60-year-old Luo Meiyi says all her sons are working in cities, so she has to carry water by herself. In fact, over half of these people are women.

The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs says the draught is "rarely seen in history." Local civil affairs authorities in Yunnan have ordered the four hardest-hit regions to report the number of affected people every ten days.

Back in Bamboo village, which has received continuing government support, Tan Kang and other villagers decide to stand on their own feet to fight the draught as well.

"Half of my corn was dried out last year. So now I turned to making money from my two pigs and 12 chickens. Selling eggs is also a good business."

While the government is taking all possible measures to minimize the damage from the drought, these people who stand on the frontline fighting the crisis seem strong and confident enough to win the battle.

Zhao Jianfu, CRI news.