Battle against floods

While a lot of human and financial resources have been mobilized to alleviate quake survivors' sufferings, the 2,385 reservoirs that have been damaged by the tremor are a grim reminder that something must be urgently done to guard against possible floods along the country's major rivers.

The rainy season is coming, and the relatively concentrated precipitation is very likely to raise water level in the Yangtze River and its tributaries in southern parts of the country.

Worse still, almost all the reservoirs that have been damaged are in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, where heavy rains or even rainstorms are very likely be frequent in the coming months.