Poverty relief leads to disaster preparedness

XINING - Ngawang Dawa will never forget the 15-day journey he took 10 years ago to bring food and clothes to farmers and herders hit by a snowstorm.

Heavy snowfall hindered rescue efforts, said Ngawang Dawa, the deputy county head of Zhidoi county in the Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture at the time.

"We had bulldozers remove the snow so our cars could get through, but it was slow work. Many herders were low on food and fuel by the time we arrived in Sokya," he said. It took 15 days to reach Sokya township, the farthest one from the county seat.

In 2019 alone, more than 10 heavy snowstorms have hit Yushu, with drifts as high as two meters, but this time Ngawang Dawa said he and his colleagues were better prepared.

Now the head of the poverty relief bureau in Yushu, Ngawang Dawa said the speed of response was faster, and losses were reduced to one-10th of those a decade ago.

Snowstorms last year killed 200,000 cattle. So far this year, only 26,000 cattle have died as a result of the snow. No human casualties have been reported.

More than 400,000 people live in Yushu prefecture on the south-western part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In 2018, 67,300 of them lived below the poverty line.

Precision and steadfast implementation of poverty relief policies led to better disaster preparedness with marked improvement in health, transportation and emergency shelter infrastructure.

Better infrastructure

From 2016 to 2018, a total of 3,806 kilometers of roads were built in Yushu, improving transportation for more than 112,000 people.

After the snowstorms hit, excavators were brought in to clear the road so food and animal feed could be supplied to disaster-stricken areas, Ngawang Dawa said.

Animal shelters and oat grass reserves that were established using poverty relief funds were enough to sustain the animals through the storms.

Government officials acted promptly to assist the vulnerable communities through the natural disaster, as mandated by the nationwide poverty relief campaign, officials said.

Herder Tsangyu Tsering broke both of his legs in an intense snow-storm in February. He received timely assistance as local cadres and rescuers lost no time in locating him and bringing him to a nearby clinic.

In the past three years, 189 new clinics were built in Yushu, including the one where Tsangyu Tsering received treatment.

After the snowstorms hit, doctors were sent to make the rounds in their communities to offer help to those in need, said Drawasong, head of a township clinic in Zadoi county.

Improved livelihood

The resettlement of residents from extremely challenging environments to more hospitable areas puts locals in better positions to deal with disasters.

Tamdrun, a 48-year-old woman, is relieved that her husband is recovering from rheumatism in their new home. A former herder in the mountains, Tamdrun lived far from the county seat, and a single journey to the nearest pharmacy was 120 km.

In November, the family received a government subsidy to move to a new home in Qingshuihe township, about 100 km from their old residence.

In Yushu, 7,020 people have been resettled into better living environments. Another 334 million yuan ($49 million) was spent on renovating old and dilapidated houses.

Raising livestock is a mainstay industry in Yushu. Compared with individual herders, cooperatives have had fewer losses from blizzards. Jamtsering runs an animal farming cooperative of 45 families in Zhidoi county. The organization helps individual herders ward off risks that they could not have dealt with alone, he said.

"With improved facilities and preventive measures, we're in a better position to deal with harsh weather and protect our cattle," he said.

Xinhua