Divert power to priority areas

Southern regions are reeling under high temperatures and droughts for some days now. According to official data, by Thursday, the Yangtze River basin area had experienced high temperatures for 15 days in a row, while some regions had not received rainfall in 20 days.

To make things worse, many regions are facing a power shortage as people are keeping their air-conditioners running all day, while, hit by drought, hydropower stations are generating less electricity than required.

In such a critical situation, it is urgent that the governments of different regions work together for the common good, instead of focusing on their own interests alone.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Emergency Management issued a latest guiding document, which stressed optimizing the allocation of water resources to minimize the losses caused by drought.

Echoing the guiding document, the Three Gorges Dam has already activated the emergency mode by releasing more water into the Yangtze River. Various provinces, too, need to take stock of the situation and reach consensus on the allocation of water resources.

As autumn is round the corner and there is only a month to go before farmers harvest their crops, as much attention needs to be paid to rural regions as to the cities.

Besides, electricity should be diverted toward sectors that are critical to people's livelihoods. Days ago, in Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Chongqing, industrial enterprises were required to suspend production during peak hours to ensure electric supply was diverted to priority areas. This is the right move. The high temperatures and drought will ultimately go away but efforts should be made to ease people's suffering.