WANGJIABA, Anhui, July 11 (Xinhua) -- China's waterway authority ordered the opening of 13 sluices at Wangjiaba, on the swollen Huaihe River, on Tuesday to divert flood waters to adjacent Mengwa buffer zone, home to 150,000 people.

    The move should bring relief to more than 2 million flood-hit residents in Henan Province, on the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, and alleviate pressure downstream, said Qiu Ruitian, deputy director of the Office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

    The diversion, begun at midday, could damage up to 12,000 hectares of cropland inside the 180-square-kilometer Mengwa flood storage area.

    The impact on the residents of Mengwa was expected to be limited, said local authorities. Created in 1953, the area contains four administrative townships, where most of the residents live in homes built more than 31 meters above sea level.

    Tuesday's flood diversion is not the end of flood control for the Huaihe River, said Ji Bing, director of the Anhui Department of Water Resources.

    "More buffer zones will be used if the flood situation worsens in the Huaihe River," Ji said.

    More rains are forecast starting from Friday in the Huaihe valley, according to meteorological authorities.

    The official said more efforts are needed to contain the flood water in the Mengwa buffer zone.

    To prepare for Tuesday's diversion, four new protective structures have been constructed around existing embankments to accommodate 3,684 people who used to live in Mengwa's low-lying areas.

    Flood water was last diverted to Mengwa in 2003, causing direct losses of 1.06 billion yuan (133 million US dollars). This time the direct economic losses are estimated at about 600 million yuan, Ji said.

    The level of the mainstream of the Huaihe River and its tributaries has continued to rise at an alarming rate due to continuous heavy rainfall in the river's drainage area since late last month.

    The water level monitored at the key Wangjiaba hydrological station, after the sluices were lifted, was 29.47 meters, still 17 centimeters above the danger level.

    Water inflow to the Wangjiaba from upstream was measured at a speed of 5,680 cu m per second, but the 13 sluices have a combined maximum capacity of diverting just 1,600 cu m per second.

    The local flood administration said it did not know when the waters would return to a safe level.

    A force of 550 armed policemen dispatched from Hefei, the provincial capital of Anhui, and Fuyang, have arrived at Wangjiaba to help with flood control, rescue and maintaining order.

    In the meantime, with increased water inflow upstream, the water level of Hongze Lake on the lower reaches of the Huaihe River rose to 13.79 meters by 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 0.29 meters above the danger line, and is still rising.

    Flood control workers Tuesday noon had to open more sluices on Hongze Lake on the lower reaches of the Huaihe River to discharge water into the Yihe River and an irrigation canal running to the sea, hoping the move would bring down the level in the lake. Last week, they opened another sluice to allow floodwater to flow into the Yangtze River, the country's longest.

    The Huaihe River originates at Mount Taibai, central China's Henan Province, and runs eastward between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, cutting through Henan and east China's Anhui and Jiangsu provinces before entering the Yangtze River via the Hongze Lake.

    Continuous torrential rain since late June has caused widespread flooding across China, especially in southern areas, including the Huaihe River valley, the provinces of Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu, and Chongqing Municipality.

    In Anhui, floods have left 26 people dead and three others missing and also affected more than 12 million people, triggering nearly 4.4 billion yuan of economic losses.

    Nationwide, the death toll in the seven flood-hit provinces has risen to 131 and another 31 are missing, the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported on Tuesday.

    Nearly 1.2 million people in these provinces had been evacuated by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and more than 99,000 houses have collapsed and another 407,100 have been damaged.

    Altogether 2.67 million hectares of farmland have been affected, with agricultural losses estimated at 5.8 billion yuan (about 763 million U.S. dollars) while total direct economic losses could reach 9.9 billion yuan, according to the ministry.

    The government has sent a working team, headed by executive deputy minister of civil affairs, Li Liguo, to the flood-stricken areas in Sichuan to direct disaster relief work.

    More rains are expected in Sichuan, Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces and Chongqing Municipality, according to weather forecasts.

    Vice Premier Hui Liangyu told a conference on Tuesday that flood control in the Huaihe River valley is in a "critical" period and he urged local governments at all levels to do their utmost to combat the disasters and help rebuild flood-stricken areas.
\