The Tibet autonomous region spent more than 68.4 billion yuan ($10.2 billion) on water conservancy over the past decade, so that rural residents no longer fetch drinking water and carry it on their backs, or break ice to get water in winter, an official said at a news conference on Thursday.

Between 2012 and 2021, through scientific water conservancy projects, the region has basically built a water conservancy infrastructure system with flood control, farm irrigation and water supplies in urban and rural areas.

Known as the "roof of the world", the "water tower of Asia" and the "third pole of the globe", the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau attracts worldwide attention.

Wang Ping, deputy head of the regional department of water resources, said Tibet has treated more than 7,900 square kilometers of eroded water and soil, and more than 14,700 residents have been employed as chiefs to protect rivers and lakes.

"The region spent more than 5.6 billion yuan on safe drinking water projects over the past 10 years, with nearly 19,000 rural water supply projects," Wang said, adding that more than 2.8 million people in the region now benefit from about 27,000 water supply projects in rural areas.

By PALDEN NYIMA