China's Ministry of Civil Affairs Saturday urged all localities to make unremitting efforts in disaster relief and give top priority to ensuring the safety of people's lives.

Since mid-June, floods and flood-induced landslides and mudslides have left 124 people dead, 69 missing and displaced 1.52 million people in south and east China by 4:00 PM Friday.

In an urgent circular, the ministry spelled out a series of measures to be taken by various localities in the disaster relief work:

-- Initiate all systems in the program to coping with emergencies once disasters occur, including transfer, relocation, supply of materials, guarantee of lives and medical treatment operations.

-- Closely monitor the conditions of disasters and transfer people out of dangerous areas timely. Keep close contact with relevant departments.

-- Ensure there are people on duty round the clock to report and transmit information on disaster and disaster relief situation as soon as possible. There should also be people on duty 24 hours a day at the central disaster relief materials storage depot.

If delaying, covering up, and inaccuracy in the reporting system caused major impact or serious consequences, relevant personnel will be penalized.

-- Speed up the storage of disaster relief materials and goods and ensure the transport routes go unobstructed.

-- Personally enter disaster areas to learn the needs of those areas and concretely guarantee the basic living conditions of the victimized people.

For people newly affected by the disasters, rescue and aid measures should be made available to them in 24 hours. Concrete measures should be taken to ensure the victims have access to food, clean drinking water, clothes, dwelling places and medical service.

Meanwhile, efforts should be made to organize the masses of people to start reconstruction work.

-- Vigorously publicize knowledge on disaster prevention and alleviation, including knowledge on shunning risks and self-protection.

-- Strengthen leadership to enhance organizational and coordination levels and adopt the responsibility system at various levels to ensure disaster relief work is carried out in an orderly way.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2005)