A lingering drought has left 520,000 people and 390,000 livestock short of drinking water in Hunan Province, local authorities said Tuesday. The month-long drought has also withered 527,000 hectares of crops, dried up 542 rivers and 415 reservoirs, Xinhua quoted a spokesman with the Hunan Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters as saying. Local authorities have induced artificial rain to relieve the drought, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, more than 1.1 million people across the province have been mobilized to combat and finance authorities have earmarked 116 million yuan (18 million U.S. dollars) as a special fund for drought relief, he added.
