WUHAN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Yangtze River authorities have begun dredging silt along China's longest waterway a week earlier than last year as silting in the river becomes more serious.

    Five dredgers, one more than last year, have been employed to scoop up the silt in three sites along the middle reaches of the river as opposed to two areas last year.

    Guniusha waterway in Qizhou has been added to the previous sites of Taipingkou, in Shashi City, and Yaojian, in Jianli, in order to prevent ships from being grounded, according to Wang Xiandeng, chief of the Wuhan Branch of the Yangtze River Bureau, which is affiliated to the Chinese Ministry of Communications.

    "Silting is getting more serious in the middle reaches of the Yangtze so we started to organize silt dredging last Wednesday, which is much earlier than in previous years," he said.

    Wang blamed the worst autumn drought for 50 years for the serious silting, saying the water level of the river at Taipingkouhad fallen to about one meter lower than last year.

    Experts also believe the Three Gorges Dam project has contributed to the low water level.

    Navigation in the areas being dredged has been banned from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day and the maritime authorities have sent two extra vessels to divert other ships while the operation continues.