By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The government unveiled a 125-billion-won plan Tuesday to counter prolonged drought that has troubled households in 17 cities and counties in three southern and mid-western provinces.
Prime Minister Han Seung-soo convened a special Cabinet meeting to discuss the deleterious weather effects on the agriculture sector and farmers in South Gyeongsang, South Jeolla and North Chungcheong provinces.
The heads of five relevant ministries including the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs and the Ministry of Environment attended the meeting.
Prime Minister Han called on the five ministers to take immediate and effective measures to help 21,283 households suffering drinking water shortages, as well as the negative effects of drought on crops.
The government has provided drinking water to the households and lent spring coolers to farmers to protect crops in the 1,537-hectare area as a temporary measure.
``The ministries should take sustainable measures such as building water reservoirs that can help fundamentally cope with drought,'' said Han.
The ministries vowed to work together to build reservoirs and underground water tunnels and exploit water resources to help residents and farm production in the three provinces.
Specifically, the environment ministry plans to spend 22 billion won on building 265 underground water reservoirs and 54-km of tunnels to secure drinking water for residents.
The agriculture ministry pledged to exploit 366 underground water reservoirs and build 35 irrigation systems to provide crops with water.
Land and Transport Minister Chung Jong-hwan said his ministry would take advantage of water in 320 wells, currently managed by Korea Water Resources Corporation for testing the quality of underground water, to supply water to the regions in the short-term.
The ministry also plans to rebuild the water supply system by 2011 so as to better cope with natural disasters as a mid-term strategy.
hkang@koreatimes.co.kr
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