Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu has called for more efforts to fight Yunnan's worst drought in 60 years when visiting the province in southwestern China.

He urged local authorities to ensure water supply for urban and rural residents and for agricultural uses.

He also asked local authorities to take more measures to limit the spread of forest fires.

Hui visited several rural households to know if they had enough water. He also inspected affected crops, reservoirs and forests during his visit to Yunnan from Wednesday to Friday.

Yunnan's drought has resulted in water shortages for locals, livestock and crops.

The dry spell started in the autumn 2009 and has also hit neighboring Guizhou Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The seriousness, duration, areas affected and losses are rarely seen in history, the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) said late Friday in a statement on its website.

The ministry urged all affected regions to "take all possible means" to minimize the damages of the drought.

The ministry also asked local civil affairs authorities of the four hardest-hit regions to report, on a 10-day basis, the number of people affected by the drought, people suffering from drinking water shortage, and people in need of government aid.

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2010)