HEFEI: Zheng Jichao, 72, has witnessed flooding for more than 10 times in his life. This time, he is not as worried as he used to be.
“Unlike in the past, when floodwater toppled houses and cut off our drinking water supply, now we have new homes with the reinforced road, water and toilet facilities,” said Zheng.
Living near the Huaihe River in Funan County, east China’s Anhui Province, Zheng is one of 195,000 residents living on “zhuangtais,” residential areas on raised ground in the Mengwa flood buffer zone. Created in 1953, the zhuangtais, about five meters high, are on naturally occurring low hills or artificially built earth platforms to protect villagers in case of floods.
Thanks to the efforts of the local government in recent years, which included relocating some of the residents and improving the infrastructure with an investment of around 800 million yuan (115.7 million U.S. dollars), the zhuangtais have become better homes that shelter local residents.
Zheng lives on the Zhengtaizi Zhuangtai in Wangjiaba Township, one of the 77 zhuangtais scattered in the middle of the Mengwa flood buffer zone.
On July 20, three days after the river’s first flood of the year following torrential rains, spillways at the major hydrological station of Wangjiaba were opened in a move to reserve capacity in flood zones. – Agencies
