As millions of soldiers and civilians kept up a flood vigil along the Yangtze River, Beijing warned local officials to lend a hand or face punishment, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.
"Officials who harm flood relief efforts through negligence, quibbling, delays, being unsympathetic to suffering, or avoiding duties will be investigated and punished," Xinhua said, quoting orders issued by the Personnel Ministry.A number of officials have already been punished for negligence in flood preparations or fleeing their posts ahead of rising waters.
Heavy rain has raised the Yangtze to its highest level since 1954. Flooding has killed at least 1,268 people this year, mostly in heavily populated areas of central China along the river.
With the Yangtze still dangerously high, over 2 million soldiers and civilians kept a vigil for holes or signs of collapse on waterlogged levees in central China, Xinhua said.
Water levels continue to rise in Poyang lake in Jiangxi province, which flows into the Yangtze near the city of Jiujiang, Xinhua said.
Torrential rains upriver in Sichuan province over the weekend could bring even higher waters, the news agency reported.
Dikes have been breached in several places, and authorities worry others weakened by near incessant rain could collapse under pressure from the swollen river.