The Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters in central
China's Hubei Province has dispatched a special group to inspect
reservoir safety in the province.
Hubei Province has received heavy rainfall recently, raising water
levels in 851 reservoirs above warning lines.
The headquarters on Tuesday released an urgent notice, urging all
the province's reservoir managers to intensify inspection of the
area around reservoirs, and detect and deal with incidents
immediately to ensure safety.
Minister of Water Resources Wang Shucheng also stressed that great
efforts must be made to ensure the country's reservoirs stand
solidly amid floods.
China has 86,000 reservoirs, of which 30,413 are threatened, making
up 36 percent of the total.
The Chinese government has earmarked 11.2 billion yuan to repair
and reinforce threatened reservoirs located in densely populated
areas, economic centers and communications hubs.
(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2003)
