Repair efforts ensure heating in flood-hit county

After serious flooding in Hebei province's Laishui county in August ruined some heating facilities, measures were put in place to ensure each household could enjoy heating this winter, the local government said.

"The heavy rainfall and flooding caused varying degrees of damage to gas facilities at residents' houses, so we organized professional personnel to repair the facilities," said Wang Xiaoxia, an official with Laishui Zhongran Natural Gas.

Wang is responsible for operations in eight towns in the county, which is part of Baoding. They include Laishui, Shiting and Wangcun, and cover 87 villages that were affected by flooding.

By the end of August, all the villages using natural gas for heating had been equipped with working gas pipelines and related facilities, Wang said.

The company had also conducted retesting work for smooth and safe gas supply by the end of last month, aiming to ensure that villagers could have a warm winter. The heating season in North China usually starts in mid-November and ends in March.

While paying close attention to natural gas demand, the county has also organized related departments to ensure heating in mountainous areas that do not have access to it.

"The county allows coal use for heating in certain places, but the coal must be a clean type that is more environmentally friendly," said Rong Hua, a resident of Loucun, a village at the foot of the Taihang Mountains.

"Last year, I used clean coal in my house. My home was clean and odorless, and the heating effect was excellent."

He said coal was delivered to each household for free, and he had ordered 3 metric tons at the end of last month.

Trucks line up at a nearby clean coal distribution point to deliver coal to villagers' homes, with the county government ensuring adequate supply.

Ten towns in the county, comprising 25,000 households, are using clean coal for heating this winter, with demand estimated at 51,000 tons, the local government said.