Over a third of Chinese resevoirs threatened by floods: Official

The safety of 36 percent of China's water reservoirs is being threatened by floods, the Minister of Water Resources said Tuesday, according to official media.

The safety of 36 percent of China's water reservoirs is being threatened by floods, the Minister of Water Resources said on Tuesday, according to official media.

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Wang Sucheng called for redoubled efforts to ensure the safety of the resevoirs, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Heavy rains falling in some parts of the country will continue to place reservoirs in those areas in grave danger, Wang said.

A total of 30,413 reservoirs out of 86,000 in the country are threatened, despite 11.2 billion yuan (1.35 billion dollars) spent in recent years by the government to maintain the reservoirs located in densely populated areas, economic centres and close to transport routes, the report said.

Some of the reservoirs are located in the Huai River valley where more than one million people have been stranded by flood waters and nearly 380,000 living on the valley floor have been moved to higher ground.