The General Offices of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the National Development and Reform Commission have jointly issued the Notice on Advancing the Remediation of Shortfalls in Urban Drainage and Waterlogging Prevention, announcing the scope of urban drainage and waterlogging prevention shortfall remediation determined by the State Council as 60 cities that have suffered severe waterlogging disasters in recent years and attracted high public attention. Five cities in our province—Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Handan, Xingtai, and Langfang—are on the list.

The Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Provincial Development and Reform Commission require the competent departments for drainage and waterlogging prevention in the relevant cities to work with their development and reform departments to promptly formulate implementation plans for drainage and waterlogging prevention shortfall remediation in accordance with each city's drainage and waterlogging prevention facility construction plan and work manual. The implementation plans should be tailored to local conditions and highlight each city's shortfalls and weak links in drainage and waterlogging prevention; they should combine short-term and long-term considerations, clearly defining key construction tasks for 2017 and construction goals through 2020; and they should focus on key issues, prioritizing the resolution of urban waterlogging and ponding problems while gradually improving the drainage and waterlogging prevention system.

The relevant cities must clearly define the key construction tasks for shortfall remediation, the responsible entities, and completion deadlines. They must formulate annual construction plans, prepare three-year rolling investment plans, and advance project preliminary procedures. Projects listed for 2017 should start construction as early as possible and strive to be completed and put into use before the main flood season. The Provincial Development and Reform Commission will actively support each city's key construction projects in areas such as applications for special construction funds. The Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Provincial Development and Reform Commission will actively seek subsidy funds from the state, to be used exclusively for drainage and waterlogging prevention shortfall remediation construction projects.

The competent departments for drainage and waterlogging prevention and the development and reform departments in the relevant cities must strengthen supervision of shortfall remediation construction projects, establish and improve work promotion mechanisms such as work target responsibility systems, performance assessment systems, and accountability systems, and conduct regular supervision and inspections.

The Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Provincial Development and Reform Commission will conduct timely supervision and inspections of the construction progress, project quality, use of funds, and shortfall remediation results in the relevant cities.(