The world's most populous nation began its week-long Lunar New Year holiday on Wednesday, but
hundreds of thousands of people will probably spend the biggest
festival of the year in the cold and dark.
Currently, more than 3,000 people, including electricians,
soldiers and armed police are struggling to repair power lines
damaged by prolonged snow, rain and sleet to restore the power
supply for Chenzhou, a city of about 4 million in central China's
Hunan Province, which started its 12th day of power blackouts and
water cuts on Wednesday.
Wednesday marks the eve of Lunar New Year, known as Spring
Festival, the most important festival for family gatherings in
China with a population of 1.3 billion.
"Parts of the power lines have been recovered, and power supply
will restore gradually for citizens in Chenzhou starting today,"
said Huang Qiang, vice general manager of the Hunan Electric Power
Company under the State Grid Corporation of China.
But power service is not expected to be resumed by 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, in eight counties, including Guiyang, Jiahe in Hunan
Province, Zixi, Lichuan, Yihuang and Le'an in Jiangxi Province,
Pingtang in Guizhou Province and Ziyuan in the Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region, the disaster relief and emergency command center
under the State Council, China's cabinet, said in a statement late
Tuesday.
Freak winter weather featuring prolonged snow, rain and sleet
since mid-January in China's eastern, central and southern regions
has downed power lines, covered roads with thick ice, brought
trains, buses and planes to standstill and stranded millions of
people.
The snow havoc, the worst in five decades, and even in a century
in few areas, has led to deaths, structural collapses, blackouts,
accidents, transport problems and livestock and crop losses in 19
provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, according to the
Ministry of Civil Affairs.
More than 100 million people have been affected, and at least 60
people have died in the freezing weather.
(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2008)