THE worst drought in 50 years to hit provinces along the Yangtze River may continue to plague Central China.

The China Meteorological Administration warned Tuesday that little rain is expected in the coming 10 days and temperatures as high as 36 degrees Celsius are likely to hit the central and southern parts of China.

Data indicated that rainfall in these regions is 30 to 80 percent less than a normal year, while the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Shanghai municipality continue to suffer the worst drought since 1954.

The lingering drought in Hubei has affected nearly 10 million people, about one sixth of its population, and influenced 1.2 million hectares of farmland.

(SD-Agencies)

Caption:

A fisherman rides a motor tricycle to transport dead fish killed by drought at his fish farm at Honghu Lake in Luoshan County, Hubei Province on Tuesday.

The combined photo shows the buoy in Jiujiang section of the Yangtze River, Jiangxi Province, on Monday (upper) and May 6. The water level has risen after the Three Gorges Dam discharged water over the weekend.

A resident passes by water level gauges at the bank of Honghu Lake in Honghu City, Hubei Province, on Tuesday.

The night view of the Three Gorges Dam on Sunday after water was discharged to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to help fight drought.

Ships stranded at Shandong’s Zaozhuang section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. More than 1,300 ships were left unmovable at the section due to the drought and the consequent low water level over the weekend.

Deng Biyi, a villager of Xinjian County, Jiangxi Province, tries to pump water from the well in his yard, but to no avail.

A fisherman squats at the dried riverbed at the Jiangsu section of Huaihe River on Tuesday.