Putting his life on the line

One plan was to extract groundwater and clean it for drinking. However, "surface water for human consumption will reduce groundwater extraction. Reducing the extraction of groundwater is very restorative and helpful to the ecosystem", Liu once told CGTN. Not only that, it is also likely to cause pollution.

Abbas Sidik, deputy director of the water bureau, notes that an idea of introducing fine water from afar had been floated for a long time. "We dared not think about it," he says, because of the geographical and financial difficulties.

Months of trekking, arguments and surveys finally led to a consensus in early 2018 that the best solution was to channel snow melt water from a glacier on Mount Muztagata to Jiashi, spanning nearly 2,000 kilometers across three counties from the upper reaches of the Gez River.

That year, the Ministry of Water Resources adopted a series of measures to improve drinking water quality across the country, backed up by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance.

Despite his occasional uneasiness, cough and chest pains, Liu led his colleagues in the search for the best locations and proper facilities in preparation.

He kept busy in mountain valleys, construction sites and villagers' homes, as well as often traveling to the counties, its immediate superior administrative center in Kashgar and the region's capital city Urumqi.

Sometimes, he suffered so much that he had perspiration all over him, but he insisted on continuing with his work. After getting some treatment, he would rush back to the village to once again take charge, instead of staying in hospital for treatment as per his doctor's suggestion.

For seven days a week, he traveled high and low to confirm the route, visited villages and towns, checked the details of the design and planning. In Sokanasty village in Yoltograk county, the smiling official was surrounded by villagers deep into the night explaining to them why the proposed route could not be redirected from a specific field.

"I would rather be scolded by villagers for days than be blamed for life for not getting them healthy water," Liu says. The villagers say Liu has "a myna bird's mouth" in persuading others, "flying legs" to visit household after household, and a "rubber heart" that resists flak and unwarranted accusations.

Still, his body failed him. A collapse at work in April 2019 left him in hospital for days, and again he did not stay as long as doctors insisted he should, because three major works-water acquisition, channeling and distribution-were set to begin.