Imperative to build resilience against droughts

As the extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and their influence is becoming greater, the response must be systematic and preparations must be made in advance.

Unlike floods, droughts tend to evolve more slowly in a less noticeable way. That tends to let emergency and disaster relief departments drop their guard.

Therefore, the preparation for responses to droughts must always bear the worst-case scenario in mind to make sure relevant emergency measures and disaster relief materials are sufficient to meet the needs of the situation.

The challenges arising from droughts include forest fires, grain loss and water and electricity shortages. Therefore, emergency departments must fully understand the complexity of the impacts of extreme drought, such as that in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and take multiple measures to reduce the threat of droughts to people's life and property security.

Drought relief, water conservation and other tasks are crucial to the autumn harvest.

Governments at all levels need to do a good job in providing equipment and supplies for drought relief, make overall plans for risk monitoring and response to emergency events such as drought and fire, flood control and drought relief, and pay attention to the systemic impact of drought on all aspects of economic and social development.

The government should give priority to ensuring people's livelihoods, and rationally allocate the electricity supply. The safety of outdoor workers and the basic life needs of low-income groups must be guaranteed.

Grassroots-level governments, social organizations, enterprises and residents need to make joint efforts to prevent and respond to the drought and take drought-resistant measures according to the local conditions.

In short, to deal with extreme drought, the country must take multiple measures and give full play to the strength of government emergency management departments, and social and professional institutions. Only in this way can we minimize the damages caused by a drought.