With another dry day added to what could be the worst drought in a century, Monday, politicians stopped partisan bickering to pool ideas about how to tackle water shortages, and the military continued special operations to help farmers irrigate cracked rice paddies.
The ruling coalition and opposition parties held a floor leaders' meeting and discussed parliamentary anti-drought measures.
The floor leaders of the ruling and the opposition parties discussed wide-ranging measures, including donating part of lawmakers' salaries to the nationwide fund-raising campaign to buy farmers water pumps.
Meanwhile, the military began full-fledged anti-drought operations Monday.
The Army, Navy and the Air Force mobilized all available soldiers and equipment to help farmers irrigate rice paddies and other farmlands.