Funds to help more Tibetans to access electricity

China will pump an extra fund of 4.5 billion yuan (723.2 million U.S. dollars) in Tibet to help more people access electricity, local authorities said on Sunday. The funds will be used to construct the Lalho Water Project in the Xigaze Prefecture in the southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region, which boasts abundant water resources, according to Dawa Tashi, head of the regional department of water resources. A total of 127,000 people in the agricultural and pastoral areas in the region will benefit from the funds, which will also help extend local irrigation area to 300,000 mu (20,000 hectares) and tame a 500-square-km area that suffers from water loss and soil erosion, Dawa said. The funds are part of China's "12th Five-Year Plan" (2011 to 2015), which targets full hydroelectricity coverage in villages and towns in Tibet. The country handed out 4.6 billion yuan of water conservancy funds to the region in 2013, which helped 38,400 farmers and herdsmen access electricity.