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| A farmer works the land in Dutang village, Sichuan province, after clouds were seeded to bring much-needed rain. The area has been experiencing a prolonged drought since last year. Lan Zitao / for China Daily |
Although farmer Zhu said he does not believe "rainy Yunnan" will one day be dry, he has still sold all his sheep and cows since the severe drought of 2010.
As of March 7, 2.3 million hectares of land in Yunnan and Sichuan had been affected by the drought, with more than 1.5 million people and 880,000 animals facing water shortages.
About 417,800 people in Guizhou province have seen temporary shortfalls in drinking water, Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday. It added that authorities are taking measures to guarantee supplies.
In drought-hit Neijiang in Sichuan, the city weather bureau engaged in cloud seeding on Monday to induce rain.
Kong said Yunnan plans to build 400,000 cisterns every year from 2013 to 2015 to help residents store water and collect rainwater.
However, Zhou Yuping of the Lantian rescue team, an NGO that helps people affected by natural disasters and has been helping people in Yunnan fight drought for three years, said building cisterns is far from enough.
"Cisterns mainly collect rain in wet seasons (May to October), but people use the water in cisterns several months after it is collected," he said.
Building roads and water channels are what people need most, he added.
"With roads, people can go out to make a living and with water channels, water can be diverted from nearby rivers," he said.
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