People walk past a flooded underground passage in Beijing, capital of China, July 20, 2016. Beijing's meteorological bureau issued an orange alert for rainstorm Wednesday noon. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)
Beijing plans to add 73 rain storage facilities capable of holding over 10 million cubic meters of water, the city government said Monday.
According to a new urban plan, the five new reservoirs will be built in mountainous areas where they will help store rainwater and prevent mountain torrents.
Flood retention facilities will be constructed in populous urban areas to speed up rainwater infiltration and drainage, while water storage "buffer zones" will be set up along riverways prone to waterlogging, according to the plan.
Nearly 100 city parks and stadiums will also be upgraded with water storage functions, according to the plan.
While having suffered chronic water shortage for years, Beijing is prone to waterlogging, often when summer rains overwhelm its drainage systems. A huge downpour caused power outages and paralyzed traffic in downtown Beijing, July 21, 2012, leaving nearly 80 people dead.
