Efforts should be stepped up to excavate drainage channels as soon as possible to reduce the water level of reservoirs, ensuring the safety of Zhengzhou City and the middle line of the South-to-North water diversion project, according to a working group sent by the national flood control and drought relief authorities. 

The working team, led by Zhou Xuewen, vice minister of the Ministry of Emergency Management, visited on Wednesday two reservoirs in the hardest-hit Zhengzhou, the capital city of central Henan Province. At least a dozen of people have died in record heavy rains and floods.  

The working team stressed that local authorities should guarantee food and shelter for the evacuated residents and urged quick resumption of production and normal life. 

It is necessary to immediately take preventative measures to exclude hidden dangers of reservoirs in the whole province, the working team emphasized. 

China's South-to-North water diversion project has served as the lifeline of water supply for China's parched northern regions for the past few years. The world's largest water transfer project was designed of three routes, namely the eastern, middle and western routes, and Zhengzhou is on the middle route.