CHINA was swept by cold wave over the past several days and actions have been taken to ensure the normal life of residents.

Northeast China’s Jilin Province issued a new yellow alert for a cold wave Saturday, with many parts of the province forecasted to experience a drop of temperature by 10 to 12 degrees Celsius.

The Jilin power supply company under the State Grid Corporation of China has beefed up maintenance of the rebuilt power supply network, and carried out inspections for hidden hazard in Shulan City, which was hit by flood in early August. At the same time, the company pledged to reduce waiting time for power repair service to 30 minutes.

Heating companies in the province are also making efforts to ensure that the local people could enjoy heating services in the cold days. The Chuncheng Heating Co. Ltd. provides heating to more than 500,000 users in Changchun, capital of Jilin. According to Li Yeji, head of the company’s production department, their production, dispatch, customer service and emergency repair personnel are on duty 24 hours a day to solve problems on a timely basis for its users.

Liaoning Province also saw a plunge of temperatures with the eastern part experiencing a drop of more than 20 degrees Celsius. The China Railway Shenyang Group Co. Ltd. has mobilized more than 8,000 staff members to monitor the road conditions and on time clean the ice and snow at railway switches, while checkups are conducted at important sections such as the bridges and tunnels.

Starting from Thursday night, 37 vehicles were dispatched to clean ice along the tracks, and close to 500 workers were ready in case of an emergency repair work.

In Beijing, at least 45 trains from the Beijing West Railway Station and seven from the Fengtai Railway Station were cancelled.

The Changping subway line in Beijing resumed operations Saturday after a rear-end collision Thursday evening. Preliminary investigations showed that slippery tracks caused by snow led to the emergency braking and halt of a train in front. A total of 515 people were sent to the hospital for examination, among whom 102 were found with fractures, local authorities said Friday. The city will conduct a comprehensive inspection of potential safety hazards.

To facilitate local passengers, the Shijiazhuang Transportation Investment Development Group Co. Ltd. in the capital of Hebei Province has exempted them from paying fares when using public transportation. The free service available from Saturday to Jan. 1, 2024, allows locals to take the buses and the three subway lines during its service hours.

China’s national observatory Saturday issued a blue alert for a cold wave that is to grip most of the country.

The National Meteorological Center warned that another cold wave is expected to affect central and eastern parts of the country, dragging temperatures down by up to 8 degrees Celsius.(SD-Xinhua)