On the afternoon of July 29th, Premier Li Keqiang visited the National Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and held a special meeting on flood control to plan the next step. This year’s flood disaster is complicated and severe, and Li Keqiang has been paying close attention to it. On July 5-6, he spent 30 hours "non-stop" in Anhui, Hunan and Hubei provinces to inspect the front line of flood control, and presided over the flood control work conference overnight for deployment.
On July 29th, at the National Defense Headquarters, Li Keqiang emphasized that flood control and fighting are still at an important juncture, so we should always tighten the string of flood control and never let up. We should give priority to ensuring the safety of people’s lives and focus on ensuring people’s livelihood after the disaster.
Always tighten the string of flood control and flood fighting, and never let go.
"What is the current (water level) of Wangjiaba?" As soon as he entered the National Defense General Duty Room, Li Keqiang asked the staff on duty. Wangjiaba sluice located in Fuyang, Anhui Province is called "the first sluice of the Huaihe River". On July 5th, Li Keqiang went to Anhui to inspect the Huaihe River flood control, and the first stop was Wangjiaba Gate.
In the general duty room, tables are covered with hydrological maps all over the country, and various monitoring data on several electronic screens keep beating, reflecting the real-time situation of important hydrological stations in China, such as Wangjiaba.
"What is the water level of the Three Gorges?" "Where are the police in the Yangtze River?" "How about Taihu Lake?" "What about Dongting Lake?" The Prime Minister continuously inquired about the water level changes at several key flood control points in the country, as well as the future flood trend and urban flood control, and requested to strengthen the monitoring, forecasting and early warning of rain and water conditions and release early warning information in a timely and accurate manner.
This year, China entered the flood season earlier than normal, and the national average rainfall since the flood season was the highest in the same period since 1954. The National Defense General also started the duty time ahead of schedule this year and started the plan as early as possible.
"You are on duty for the people of the whole country, and everyone has worked hard!" The Prime Minister expressed condolences to the personnel on duty and told them that the main flood season has not yet passed, so everyone should make persistent efforts and the emergency duty work should not be relaxed at all.
Li Keqiang then hosted a special conference on flood control in the flood control center. The head of the National Defense General reported at the meeting that at present, there is no dam break in large and medium-sized reservoirs, and there is no breach in the main dikes of major rivers, and the dangers of rivers and lakes have been effectively controlled. The Prime Minister said that this year, the flood disaster in China showed a severe situation of North-South concurrence and multiple occurrences, which was rare for many years. The broad masses of soldiers and civilians joined hands to fight the disaster, and the flood control work was strong, orderly and effective. However, some areas have also exposed weak links such as insufficient flood control capacity and poor emergency response.
"I can’t breathe a sigh of relief now!" Li Keqiang said that at present, it is still in the critical period of flood control, and the flood situation is still very complicated. Every year from late July to early August is the period when rainfall reaches its peak and flood is the most severe in China. According to the weather forecast, the flood situation in the south is still under pressure, and there may be some heavy rainfall in the northeast, north China and southwest China, so flood control is facing multi-line operations. Moreover, the El Ni? o phenomenon has not yet ended, and the La Ni? a phenomenon will form and develop, and the future meteorological environment will be complex.
"The two phenomena are connected before and after, and the meteorological fluctuations may be severe. In the face of this situation, we must fully consider its uncertainty, suddenness and abnormality." Li Keqiang stressed, "We must always tighten the string of flood control and flood fighting, and we must never relax! This is not only the requirement of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, but also the expectation of the people of the whole country and our political responsibility. "
On the same day, the special work conference on flood control was held in the conference room of the flood control center, which can be described as "high specification". Premier Li Keqiang presided over the meeting, and Vice Premier the State Council, Commander-in-Chief of the National Defense General Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jing attended the meeting. Leaders from more than 20 departments including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture all attended the meeting.
Li Keqiang pointed out that at present, two key points should be highlighted: first, the important facilities of the great rivers and great lakes levees should be ensured to be safe and sound; second, the small openings of the small ponds and small dams should never be torn into large openings; and the emergency plan should be detailed and materialized for extreme rainfall that may still occur in some places, especially in the northern region. "The most fundamental thing is to ensure the safety of people’s lives in the first place!" He said with emphasis.
The Prime Minister stressed that for some areas with extreme rainfall, early evacuation and transfer should be the main means to ensure the safety of people’s lives, and no casualties should be caused by poor response to dangerous situations.
In view of the situation of flood control and disaster relief in the north and south lines and many rivers, Li Keqiang demanded that the National Defense General should strengthen classified guidance.
Strengthen disaster relief resettlement and post-disaster reconstruction, and strive to protect people’s livelihood after the disaster.
Since the flood season this year, the number of people who have been resettled has increased significantly compared with previous years. Li Keqiang demanded that all localities should take the main responsibility, strengthen disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction, and strive to protect people’s livelihood after the disaster. The central government should timely allocate funds for flood control and disaster relief, timely allocate relief materials, and let the people in the disaster areas truly feel the care and warmth of the party and the government.
Li Keqiang specifically requested that the damaged schools and hospitals should be repaired as soon as possible, so as to ensure that all schools in the disaster areas can start school normally on September 1st.
Finally, the Prime Minister stressed that all localities should seek truth from facts, publicly release public grievances and disasters, and promptly respond to social concerns. Don’t hide the facts, and don’t exaggerate them. Let the truth announced by the government outperform the false rumors on the Internet. (Special correspondent Guo Shiyue)
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