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Severe drought hits Cambodia

Xinhua, April 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

Drought has caused water shortages in 18 out of Cambodia's 25 cities and provinces, a disaster control spokesman said on Monday, adding authorities have been distributing water to those affected villagers.

"Wells and ponds have dried up in some districts in 18 provinces and hundreds of thousands of people are in need of water," Keo Vy, spokesman for the National Center for Disaster Management (NCDM), told Xinhua. "In my observation, this year's drought is the worst of all in the past 40 years."

Local authorities have been working actively to truck water to drought-hit villagers in those provinces.

Temperatures have risen to 42 degrees Celsius in some provinces, the spokesman said, adding that about 65 tons of fish in Tonle Chhmar lake in central Kampong Thom province died last week.

Also, a 45-year-old female elephant, used to carry tourists in the Angkor Archaeological Park in northwestern Siem Reap province, collapsed and died on Friday due to the heat, he added.

He called on the elderly and children to be vigilant over the hot weather.

According to the spokesman, the drought was forecast to continue until July due to the impacts of El Nino.

Prime Minister Hun Sen last week urged Cmbodians to use water sparingly and ordered his officials to do all their best to deliver water to drought-stricken villagers.

"Please all of you, reduce the use of water, don't waste it when facing water shortages, and I hope that the assistance of the water that the authorities are distributing will help all of your needs," he wrote on his Facebook page.

To help alleviate the drought, China has been discharging water from the Jinghong hydropower station in southwestern Yunnan province to the downstream Mekong River countries - Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Chan Yutha, spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, said last week that some 60 million people living along the downstream Mekong River are benefiting from China's ongoing discharge of water. Enditem