Report counters media reports of water shortage

Problems including local authorities' slack working style and a seasonal water shortage have existed side by side in two villages of Shaanxi province, where some residents reportedly experienced drinking water shortages, provincial authorities said in a notice on Monday.

After media reports, the province pledged to keep up with local poverty alleviation and consolidation work and to improve local officials' performance, the notice said.

The announcement came after an on-site investigation by a team dispatched by the provincial government on Friday.

In a report broadcast by CCTV on Friday, residents in Shanghe and Sanxing in Lingkou, Luonan county, said they were still facing drinking water shortages after being lifted out of poverty, because water facilities had not been put in place.

CCTV reported that families had left a resettlement site because it lacked water facilities. It also reported that villagers traveled far out of their communities to get water, and the water they got had to be filtered before it could be used.

But Beijing News quoted Wang Yabin, deputy director of the poverty alleviation and development bureau of Luonan, as saying on Sunday that resettled families had left the site for personal reasons.

A report from an initial investigation conducted by the bureau said four families moved to the resettlement site after water facilities were installed in May 2018. They started to leave the site in January last year for personal reasons, including two who returned to live with guardians.

Water sources in the two villages are sufficient for residents' daily needs, according to county's investigative report.

Luonan, which is surrounded by mountains, shook off its poverty status last year.

Ensuring the safety of drinking water is the bottom line for the county's poverty alleviation work, according to the central government's requirements.

Zhao Ruixue contributed to this story.