1o147 New Urban Farmers Chapter 192 A Bad Feeling
The township party committee and government mobilized urgently. Leaders went to various villages to inspect the situation. Furthermore, the rural roads in Qingmu Township are mostly dirt and gravel roads, which become extremely muddy after prolonged soaking following heavy rain. Cars are simply unable to pass, not to mention the threats and obstacles posed by mudslides and large water flows.
A massive, thick bolt of lightning swept down from the mountain, blocking everyone's path. They could only stare helplessly. Even walking was impossible, leaving many inspectors stranded halfway up the mountain, waiting anxiously. Fortunately, after the lightning subsided, they could communicate by mobile phone.
The news received over the phone was far from optimistic. In short, they were too late to arrive at the scene immediately.
"Some areas have been hit by flash floods and mudslides, disrupting all transportation routes. Currently, eighteen villages in the township can be contacted by phone, but many houses are flooded and some roads have collapsed. The heavy rain continues. More than ten people have been injured, but it is currently unknown whether anyone has died. There are also three villages where phone lines are down and we cannot reach them. Xiao Chu, quickly report the contact results."
Lin Zhong's mood immediately turned heavy, and Ding Jianguo, the deputy township head in charge of water conservancy beside him, was even more ashen-faced. Imagine if the county meteorological station's forecast of two consecutive days of continuous rain had come true—the outcome would be even worse! Who could bear the responsibility?
"Have Mayor Zheng and the others all arrived at their respective villages?" Lin Zhong asked hurriedly.
"No. They're stuck on the road just like us, unable to get through. We're currently on the phone directing rescue efforts," Xiao Chu said, his face filled with worry.
The deputy secretary of the county party committee and the secretary of the discipline inspection commission were waiting for the results and would call to inquire about the situation from time to time, but how could they explain the results now?
Although a natural disaster blocked everyone's way, where were they before? This shows that the leaders of Qingmu Township lacked awareness of safety and treated the lives of the people as a joke!
But it's too late to say anything now!
Lin Zhong suddenly felt a tightness in his chest and found it hard to breathe. Xiao Chu, noticing that Secretary Lin's complexion was not right, immediately supported him: "Secretary Lin, what's wrong?"
"No. It's nothing!" Lin Zhong shook his head and said.
"But your face is very pale, without a trace of blood, Secretary Lin. Why don't we go back to the village first? We can't go here now, so why don't we listen to Secretary Yu's instructions?" Xiao Chu said worriedly.
“Secretary Lin, I think you should go back to the township first. I can stay here and you can coordinate and direct operations by phone!” Deputy Township Head Ding Jianguo also said.
The others nodded in agreement.
Secretary Yu is in the township. Without a leader to communicate and coordinate, things won't work. Right now, it's all about directing by phone; it's pretty much the same whether he's here or in the township.
Lin Zhong thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, saying, "Alright, Township Chief Ding. Once the rain subsides, we must get to Wangjia Village, Shijia Village, and Dingjiaba as soon as possible, as those three villages are located in low-lying areas."
"Secretary Lin, don't worry, I'll risk my life to get there as soon as possible!" Ding Jianguo said.
There's no time for anyone to make excuses now!
Lin Zhong eventually transferred back to the township due to both health reasons and Secretary Yu Yang's presence there, leaving most of the staff behind.
Upon arriving in the township, Lin Zhong, disregarding his visit to the township hospital, immediately went to Zhang Biyuan's office at the Discipline Inspection Commission. However, Zhang Biyuan's office was empty.
As he came out of the net, he ran into Liu Linzhong from the Discipline Inspection Office, who stopped him: "Are Secretary Yu and the others there?"
"Secretary Yu and Secretary Zhang went to the reservoir!" Xiao Liu said.
"The reservoir? What's wrong there?" Lin Zhong asked anxiously.
"Just now, Secretary Zhang received a call from Ning Biao saying that the amount of water flowing into the reservoir was too large, and if it continued to flow in, the fish and shrimp being farmed inside would suffer great losses. The water had to be released in advance! So Secretary Yu and Secretary Zhang rushed over to stop it," Xiao Liu said.
"What?! That bastard Ning Biao! He still cares about fish and shrimp?" Lin Zhong was furious.
Calm down.
"Did the police go with him? Is Secretary Yu safe?" Lin Zhong asked, remembering something.
"He's gone. Director Yan went with four other officers to protect Secretary Yu's safety!" Liu nodded and said. "By the way, Secretary Yu said that if you or Township Head Zheng return, you don't need to go to the reservoir; you can stay in the township and oversee things!"
Lin Zhong almost stumbled, but seeing that Xiao Liu didn't have any particular expression, he just muttered something.
Yu Yang's meaning is very clear.
In the face of natural disasters, everything else can be put aside for the time being. The township leadership is currently vacant; someone needs to be in charge and coordinate things.
The flood discharge channel in Qingmu Township passes through the township, and if the water volume exceeds the discharge intensity and flow rate, the township will be in danger. Lin Zhong also thought of this problem. He immediately returned to his office, thought for a moment, and then called Yu Yang.
On the other end of the phone, it was very noisy; people seemed to be shouting.
"Secretary Yu, I've returned to the township to oversee things here as instructed. But don't worry, Deputy Township Head Ding and the others are still on-site," Lin Zhong reported, outlining the situation. Of the twenty-one villages, eighteen could be contacted by phone. However, three villages located in low-lying areas could not be reached.
Yu Yang instructed him to make sure that Deputy Township Head Ding and his team arrived at the three villages as quickly as possible to get firsthand information, to rescue those who needed to be rescued, and to evacuate those who needed to be evacuated immediately.
"Furthermore, what's the deal with contracting the Qingmu Township Reservoir to a private individual? Is there no one managing or supervising it? This reservoir is related to the safety of the entire township; how could it be so easily contracted out to a private individual? Moreover, the maintenance here is terrible! Why haven't we seen any results from the 300,000 yuan in maintenance funds that the county allocates to the township every year?" Yu Yang criticized bluntly.
Ning Biao's statement infuriated Yu Yang.
Reservoirs are an effective means of regulating water resources, but they cannot be used to release water at will. A scientific calculation is necessary; otherwise, it could put pressure on downstream areas.
However, when Zhang Biyuan introduced Ning Biao as the deputy secretary of the county party committee and secretary of the discipline inspection commission, who was there to inspect the safety of the reservoir, Ning Biao said, "Secretary Yu, rest assured, it's very safe here. If the water volume is too large, we can release more water, but my fish and shrimp will suffer greater losses. I would appreciate it if Secretary Yu could witness this and tell me what to do about my losses."
If Yu Yang and his group hadn't arrived earlier, Ning Biao would have already started releasing water from the reservoir.
Speaking of Ning Biao, he is indeed very fierce.
It was the leaders of Jianbo City who made the request to Qingyang County, and then Qingyang County introduced it to Qingmu Township, specifying that Ning Biao wanted to contract the reservoir.
Lin Zhong, Zheng Haifu, and others dared not disobey the county leaders and agreed to contract the reservoir to Ning Biao for an annual fee of 50,000 yuan. However, maintenance costs were not included in the contract. The annual maintenance of the reservoir still required funding from the township finance and special county funds.
In reality, the reservoir contracting fee is so cheap that even if you add 100,000 yuan a year, it's not expensive.
Ning Biao has been operating this reservoir for three years to raise fish and shrimp, and he tries to use fresh water as much as possible. As a result, he often opens the gate to discharge water, which wastes a lot of water resources. Downstream, people want to irrigate, but there is no suitable time because they don't know when the water will be released.
Therefore, the downstream villages have a lot of complaints.
Over three years, Ning Biao earned one million yuan from raising high-quality fish and shrimp, but publicly claimed he only earned around one hundred thousand yuan. He also wanted to request the township government to lower the contract fee, intending to sign a twenty-year contract.
Lin Zhong simply kept delaying the signing, saying he would wait until the contract expired before discussing it further.
Unexpectedly, Qingmu Township experienced such heavy rainfall this time. And Secretary Yu happened to be there.
Lin Zhong's face turned even paler when Secretary Yu questioned him. He cursed Ning Biao's ancestors ten times in his heart.
But alas, circumstances dictate our actions.
"Secretary Yu contracted the reservoir after County Chief Yang made the arrangements. We thought it would reduce the financial burden, so the Party Committee collectively agreed. However, the contract clearly states the responsibilities and obligations of both parties. In the event of a severe natural disaster, Ning Biao is responsible for and will unconditionally cooperate with the government in flood control!" Lin Zhong said.
But how severe does a natural disaster have to be to be considered severe? That's unclear. Nobody expected the disaster to be so serious at the time. Anyway, this contract was a muddled affair designed to appease County Chief Yang.
Ning Biao didn't care about this.
What a joke. It's just a township government; if they really suffered losses, wouldn't anyone compensate them?
"Oh? That's good!" Yu Yang's tone softened slightly upon hearing this. Such requests from superiors were common, and often quite confusing. "The rain continues, though it's turning into moderate rain, but the floodwaters will likely rise further. You, stationed in the township, must organize personnel to be ready for flood control at any time!"
“Okay!” Lin Zhong replied immediately.
After hanging up the phone, Lin Zhong immediately called Xiao Chu over.
"All staff members must immediately assemble in the township government compound. The mission is to be ready to participate in the flood control efforts at any time. This is a mandatory mission! Everyone must participate!" Lin Zhong said.
After receiving Secretary Yu's call, Lin Zhong realized that the situation was more serious and that he, as the leader, had to be prepared for potential dangers even in times of peace, and make arrangements accordingly, even though it was only a township.
Holding umbrellas and wearing raincoats, many people gathered in the township government compound, complaining. There were over a hundred of them.
"Is everyone here?" Lin Zhong asked after appearing.
Geng Qiuliang, deputy director of the Party and Government Office, immediately said, "The leaders of various units have compiled statistics showing that the Family Planning Office is short two people who are currently out in the countryside and won't be back in time. The Forestry Station is also short two people: Station Chief Wu and Clerk Xiao Du. The Statistics Section is also short two people who have gone to a meeting in the county."
Then there were some women and elderly people who were sick with leg pain, headaches, or fevers, and in total, about thirty people were missing.
Lin Zhong was furious upon hearing this, his face darkening even more. However, now was not the time to investigate who deserted and settle scores with others later!
"Write down the names of these people!" Lin Zhong said coldly.
Seeing that Secretary Lin's expression was not good, Deputy Director Geng immediately knew that these people were probably in trouble if they didn't have a plausible reason!
"Today, everyone's task is to organize the evacuation of people on both sides of the flood discharge channel. Now everyone is divided into twenty groups." Lin Zhong gathered some heads of the science and technology offices and divided them into twenty groups, leading the group members to ensure that people on both sides of the channel were evacuated to safe places.
Lin Zhongyi and everyone else felt that the atmosphere was different today, as if something important was about to happen.
At that moment, Zhang Guodong and Liu Neng met up in the countryside near the Qingmu Township reservoir. Zhang Guodong had a few drinks in the town to experience the tense atmosphere. Liu Neng also arrived.
Zhang Guodong saw a figure who looked like a county leader being escorted by township leaders. He rushed out in the rain and asked around, only to find out that this was the deputy secretary of the county party committee and secretary of the discipline inspection commission. When they arrived, Yan Weimin accompanied them towards the reservoir.
Listening to the reservoir, and looking at the weather, Zhang Guodong felt a little nervous. He'd been here for so long and had never seen a reservoir before; he felt he should probably go and take a look.
Unable to stop them, Liu Neng had no choice but to follow along.
"Boss, this embankment is too dangerous. Should we leave? Besides, some county leaders are inspecting this area. We can't get up here," Liu Neng said worriedly, looking at the tall, indistinct embankment in the rain. He hadn't expected the reservoir in this poor village to be so large—at least a medium-sized reservoir!
If the dam of this reservoir fails, hundreds of thousands of tons of water will spill out, and one can imagine the horror of that moment.
But looking at the dam, Zhang Guodong felt uneasy. Based on his premonition from the last time he went to Shiya Road, it seemed that something was about to happen.
“There might be a problem with the reservoir!” Zhang Guodong said.
Note: There will be another update later.
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