Kindergarten, elementary and middle schools in Chongqing will delay the new school term until next Tuesday because of the very hot weather.

Despite some rainfall last week, much of it artificially induced, temperatures soared to 40 degrees Celsius yesterday and are expected to continue for the next two days, according to the Chongqing Meteorological Station (CMS).

The mercury rose to 38.6 C in downtown Chongqing on Sunday, and on the same day authorities issued a new heat wave warning after having only lifted it a week earlier.

Institutes of higher learning will not postpone the start of the new school year. But their classes could be suspended in case of high temperatures, according to the municipal government.

Many have adopted emergency response mechanisms to cope with the scorching summer.

Since July 26, Chongqing University has provided free watermelon slices to nearly 4,000 students who stayed on campus during the summer vacation, which ends tomorrow.

If the heat wave continues after the new term starts, the university will continue to do so, university authorities said.

No rain is expected in Chongqing Municipality this week. Due to prolonged high temperatures, the drought situation is becoming more serious, CMS warned.

The drought has caused nearly 6.4 billion yuan (US$800 million) in losses in Chongqing, and left more than 7.9 million people and 7.4 million livestock without adequate drinking water, according to the latest figures.

The city's reservoirs currently have less than 950 million cubic meters of water, only 33 percent of their capacity, according to the municipal flood and drought relief headquarters.

According to Ma Mingyuan, deputy chief of the Chongqing Municipal Economic Commission, brownouts, that is, partial blackouts, will be introduced in the city's government offices from seven in the evening to seven the next morning every day. The power cuts will continue until the drought is alleviated, Ma said.

According to Huang Qifan, executive mayor of Chongqing, the city was faced with a shortage of 120 million kilowatt-hours of electricity this summer. The shortage has resulted in losses of 3.4 billion yuan (US$425 million) for businesses, he said.

Huang added that the municipal government will allocate special funds to buy two or three helicopters to combat fires, as most forest fires are in mountainous areas inaccessible to firefighters.