Beijing, July 07: China today blew up another dyke in Anhui province as the flood situation along the Huaihe river worsened, the state media reported. The dyke of Jingshan lake on the Huaihe river was blown up at the zero hours so that the flood crest could pass the city of Bengbu, an industrial base and traffic hub in east China's Anhui province without any mishap, Xinhua news agency reported.

Statistics from the Huaihe river flood control headquarters show that the water level at Huainan floodwater control station of the Jingshan lake had reached 24.38 metres last night, 0.35 metres higher than its past record or 1.23 metres higher than its prescribed alert level. To secure the embankment to the north of the Huaihe river where the mining and industrial enterprises of Bengbu are located, the flood control headquarters has made their seventh dyke blast to release floodwater.

Earlier, Mengwa, Shangliufangdi, Xialiufangdi, Luohewa, Shiyao section and Tangduo lake have been blown up in the past 48 hours to help reduce the water level.

Luo Zewang, deputy general engineer with the Huaihe river water resources committee under the ministry of water resources, said the 22 flood diversion areas could all possibly be put to use if the situation continues to worsen. According to Luo, evacuation work in four of the 15 remaining flood diversion areas has been completed and that of the rest is still under way.

China's flood control authorities have predicted that many areas in eastern and western region would receive heavy rains in the coming days that could affect normal lives.

Bureau Report