Anchor: It is now the eighth day since the central government declared a state of disaster for the drought-stricken city of Gangneung in Gangwon Province. The water shortage crisis has yet to be controlled, despite ongoing efforts to prevent depletion of the region's water source.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: The severe drought and water supply shortage situation in the eastern city of Gangneung have yet to improve on the eighth day of state disaster declaration, despite deployment of military helicopters and Coast Guard vessels for water supply support.

According to Gangwon Province and Gangneung City on Saturday, water supply piping, vehicles, helicopters and Coast Guard ships were set to be mobilized to transport 29-thousand-603 tons of water to the Obong reservoir and Hongje water treatment plant. 

Some 400 military vehicles, 81 fire engines, 27 sprinkler trucks and four helicopters are expected to be operated to help prevent the reserve rate from further dropping at the Obong reservoir, which supplies 87 percent of domestic water used by 180-thousand Gangneung residents.

The province and the city transported 30-thousand-707 tons of water in the same way on Friday, but the reserve rate fell zero-point-three percentage point to 12-point-nine percent as of 9 a.m. Saturday.

With authorities making such efforts to no avail, they began restricting water supply for 113 multi-unit residential buildings in the region with a storage tank of at least 100 tons, ten large-size lodging facilities and one public institution.

The local governments assured that supply would not be cut off since water would be brought in by vehicles before storage tanks are depleted.

The supply restriction, however, would further expand to the entire area supplied by the Hongje water treatment plant if the reserve rate at the Obong reservoir falls below ten percent between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in the first phase, and every other day in the second phase.

The city government began providing 12 liters of bottled water to every city resident on Friday, except for the Jumunjin, Wangsan and Yeongok neighborhoods.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.