GUIYANG - A severe and persistent drought in Southwest China's Guizhou province has created a drinking water shortage affecting more than 5.47 million people, said local authorities.

Local governments have induced artificial rains, drilled wells and pumped water out of the ground to ease the drought and combat the shortage. The drinking water shortage for 4.4 million people had been eased as of Thursday, according to a statement released Friday by the Guizhou Provincial Department of Civil Affairs.

The drought, which began in early July, has dried up 479 reservoirs and 349 rivers, devastated crops and reduced available supplies of drinking water.

The Guizhou provincial government has allotted 60 million yuan (about $9.38 million) as a special subsidy to explore and utilize underground water. An additional 40 million yuan will be allocated to drill wells to ease the water shortage for daily usage and irrigation needs.

As of Thursday, nearly 1.1 million hectares of crops have been impacted by the drought, with 22,000 hectares rendered unable to be harvested, and about 3 million heads of livestock were suffering from drinking water shortages.

According to weather forecasts, no rainfall is expected in Guizhou, thus extending the drought and making its damage more serious, said a report released by the provincial meteorological bureau.

High temperatures and scant rains also continued to wreak havoc on Southwest China's Yunnan province, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Sichuan province and the municipality of Chongqing this week.

The central government has allocated over 2 billion yuan to support local drought-fighting efforts in these areas.