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YUNNAN: One of China's most pressing environmental problems is the lack of clean water.
Water pollution and poor water management has made it difficult for many rural dwellers to get water for daily use and as a result, millions have had to resort to drinking contaminated water.
In Yunnan province, which is populated mainly by ethnic minorities, the ethnic Hani minority has long been affected by the shortage of water.
Pu Qionghua, an ethnic Hani villager, said: "In the past, we have to walk very far to get water. Economic development here is poor. We don't have much income. Once we stop work, we have no income at all."
But recently with help from foreign donors, the village has better access to clean drinking water.
And now that water is pumped to their doorsteps, residents are hoping to be able to grow more crops and make more money.
But in another nearby village, access to clean water for its over 300 inhabitants is still an uphill challenge.
Village chief Kang Zengliang, said: "Even though it's rainy season now, the water is only enough for our cattle. When the skies clear up, there'd be even less water. I hope the authorities can solve our water problem. This is our biggest difficulty."
The lack of water has forced many in the village to leave home to find jobs elsewhere.
China's water shortage is partly due to the country's increasing urbanization, the uneven distribution of water and inadequate water-recycling programs.
Experts have predicted that by 2020, China's water shortage will merit a world crisis alert.
For several decades, the lack of water resources has long been on the agenda of the central government not just in the context of livelihood and sanitation, but also in the context of strategic development as well as long term economic growth.
Over 300 million rural residents in China have no access to clean drinking water.
Critical drinking water sources such as rivers and lakes have been increasingly threatened by industrial pollution, a clear sign that China's booming economy comes with environmental costs and damage that are both incalculable and perhaps even irreversible.
- CNA/fa
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