Heavy snow overwhelms northern grassland

Heavy snow has been battering Xilin Gol grassland in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, causing anguish for more than eight million farmers and herdsmen.

Since the beginning of November, the region has been hit with heavy snowfall on six occasions, with the average precipitation reaching 24 millimeters, a record high since 1961.

The average precipitation of the central and eastern part of the region, including Xilin Gol League is more than twice for the same period in recent years, according to the local meteorological observatory.

The extreme weather has left part of Xilin Gol grassland suffering from a snow disaster that is called the "iron disaster" by local herdsmen.

The "iron disaster" is when the low temperature makes the melted snow on the ground crystalize into ice which is then covered by more snow.

Herdsman Wang Jila said livestock have had nothing to eat once the iron disaster hit because the grass is frozen in the ice.

Wang has more than 100 sheep but they are suffering from a lack of food.

Local meteorological experts said parts of Xilin Gol League has more than 30 centimeters of snow and more than 90 percent of forage grass is covered.

Statistics from the regional local government said the snow disaster has affected more than 8.39 million people and 59.54 million livestock, and caused direct economic losses of more than 600 million yuan (96.2 million U.S. dollars).

Heavy snow has also disrupted traffic.

In Xilin Gol League, 73-year-old farmer Zhang Lanhua and his wife are forced to ride a donkey cart to the hospital in the town. Zhang's wife is sick and the shuttle bus service has stopped due to the weather.

Gangbuhe, head of the agriculture and animal husbandry bureau of Zhenglan Banner of Xilin Gol, said the local traffic system has stopped, and people have to travel on foot or by horse.

The traffic management department in Inner Mongolia said heavy snow has led to the closure of expressways and the suspension of passenger transport on the roads.

There have been more than 180 road accidents on the Inner Mongolia section of the Beijing-Tibet Expressway since the beginning of November.

The lack of pasture grass and the rising price of forage has squeezed profit margins of the herdsmen.

Yan Zhigang, a herdsman, said the price of grass has grown from 650 yuan per tonne to 1,000 yuan per tonne after the snow came, and has raised the cost of keeping cattle.

According to a report from the agriculture department of Inner Mongolia more than 1.5 million tonnes of grass and forage is needed to relieve the disaster-hit area in the region.

The snow disaster is still lingering in the central and eastern part of Inner Mongolia. Local governments of all districts and banners in the region have organized disaster relief teams to help the people cope with the extreme weather.

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