Drinking water supply has been restored to more than 214,000 people in Jilin Province after artificial rain fell in northeast China, which is currently in the grip of drought.
   
Some 113,000 heads of livestock also have access to drinking water temporarily as water began to fill dried up wells after the latest rain making campaign induced 630 million tons of rainfall across the province, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.
   
Local meteorological departments launched nine planes, fired 522 rockets and 1,653 shells to seed clouds from last Wednesday to Monday.
   
Jilin, which has been plagued by a rare drought since early June, had received an average precipitation of 39.2 mm by Wednesday.
   
The rainfall was unbalanced as the eastern mountainous areas got the maximum 65 mm rainfall while many counties and townships got almost nothing.
   
About 580,000 hectares of cropland remained in the grip of drought, accounting for 14.5 percent of the total farmland in the province. The rate has dropped 65 percent from that before the rainmaking effort.
   
The local government, which has spent more than 402 million yuan (US$52.9 million) on disaster relief, has cancelled the severe drought alarm issued more than ten days ago.
   
However, the headquarters and meteorological bureau said on Wednesday that the flood season was about to arrive before the drought relief campaign was even over.
   
Relative departments have been warned to get prepared for heavy rain, flooding, landslides and other natural disasters, especially in the eastern mountainous areas.
   
Showers are expected to pelt most parts of Jilin in the next couple of days, helping to further alleviate the drought but also increasing the possibility of flooding, according to weather forecasts.
   
In Baicheng City, western Jilin, recent downpours have destroyed about 100 meters of a local dyke, releasing more than 10 million cubic meters of water, flooding houses, corn and melon fields.
   
"We have to take action to minimize losses brought about by both drought and floods," said headquarters director Zhai Qiang.
   
Provincial governor Han Changfu has called on local disaster prevention staff to organize drills to ensure the safety of schools, institutions for the elderly and factories, where large number of people congregate.
   
Neighboring Liaoning also artificially induced rainfall amid a month-long drought, temporarily restoring drinking water to 710,000 people and 387,000 heads of livestock.
   
The acreage of drought-affected crops dropped to 804,000 hectares, about 80 percent less than before the rainmakers began their tricks.
   
However, Huanxian County in eastern Liaoning, suffered the first rainstorm since the end of June, when Liaoning entered the raining season.
   
The downpour lasted for about 11 hours since Tuesday afternoon, bringing nearly 300 mm of precipitation to the soil and triggering mountain torrents.
   
More than 6,250 people and 586 hectares of cropland were affected in the flooding, incurring nearly 20 million yuan (US$2.6 million) in economic losses. No casualties have been reported.
   
The local government released a warning against heavy rain and natural disasters on Wednesday afternoon. Disaster relief staff have helped 64 households to evacuate flood-hit areas.

Moderate rainfall is still expected in the next few days, according to the local weather forecast.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2007)