Chronical drought is causing havoc in southern Guangdong Province and two of its neighbors, with tens of thousands of people facing shortage of drinking water and large areas of cropland affected, according to local drought relief authorities Saturday.

Guangdong Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said currently the province has more than 50,000 people facing shortage of drinking water and more than 553,000 hectares of farmland were damaged due to less rainfall this year, which is about 13 percent down than the average level of the previous years.

Water reserves in 32 key reservoirs in Guangdong remained at 11.78 billion cubic meters as of Friday, dropping 3.51 billion cubic meters as against the same period of last year.

Quanzhou city of Fujian Province, to the east of Guangdong, has seen no rainfall over the past 57 consecutive days, leaving nearly 12,000 hectares of crops in thirst and five reservoirs empty.

The city government has injected nearly 5.49 million yuan (804,213 U.S. dollars) and mobilized 117,900 people to fight the drought. There would be no rainfall in a short period of time, according to the latest weather forecast.

In Hunan Province, which borders Guangdong in the north, the drought aggravated in August and September, which saw 41 percent and 62 percent less of rainfall than the corresponding period of last year.

Falling water levels in a main river that provides drinking water to riverside residents have prompted water plants to launch backup water supply facilities. Local governments are working out emergency plans to ensure drinking water supply.