Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha works on drought and salinity prevention and control

Solving local water shortages

On April 7, in Tien Giang province, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Le Minh Hoan, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh had an online meeting with the provinces of Tien Giang, Long An, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh , Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Kien Giang and Ca Mau on drought and salinity prevention and control.

On the side of Tien Giang province, there were Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee - Mr. Nguyen Van Vinh, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee - Mr. Pham Van Trong.

According to the People's Committee of Tien Giang, the province has declared an emergency situation regarding natural disasters such as saltwater intrusion and lack of domestic water in Tan Phu Dong district (Tien Giang province).

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and his delegation inspected the free water supply for people's daily activities.

For the western region, domestic water supply for people is guaranteed. For the eastern region, Dong Tam water plant operates, production is stable, output capacity fluctuates 68,000-70,000 m3/day and night.

With the amount of water stored in the reservoir, combined with pumping from the Sau Au - Xoai Hot canal and operating 6 backup wells, the production activities of Dong Tam water plant are basically stable.

Now, it is the peak of the hot season, the demand for water is high, water sources in canals and ponds in the fields have been exhausted.

Most water stations are operating normally, some stations have reduced production capacity or stopped producing water due to lack of raw water. The Eastern districts are short of about 25,000 m3/day and night.

Tien Giang Water Supply Company is regulating water supply daily and by area to meet people's water needs and coordinating with the People's Committees of Eastern districts and towns to open public water taps in disadvantaged areas with water shortages for people to come and get free water for daily use.

Up to now, Tien Giang province has opened 101 public water taps, the total amount of water supplied so far is 6,344m3, the number of taps will continue to change in the coming time.

In addition, Tien Giang Water Supply Company Limited has equipped and transported 63 water tanks to provide free water to people in some areas lacking water at the end of the source, placed at 40 points in need of water and loaded onto water transport vehicles to the place of use to provide free water to people in areas lacking water at the end of the source.

The People's Committees of communes and towns in the Eastern districts and towns have organized forces and vehicles to transport water to provide free water to single-parent households and the elderly who cannot afford to get water from public taps and water tanks.

In addition, many benefactors and philanthropists, using water and land vehicles (barges, tankers, water trucks of all kinds), transported fresh water to distribute for free at residential areas, commune centers, commune health stations and to the homes of poor and single households.

This has contributed significantly to solving the current shortage of domestic water in the eastern districts and towns of Tien Giang province.

Particularly for Tan Phu Dong district, the water demand in the district during the peak of hot weather is currently nearly 10,000m3/day, a shortage of 1,700m3/day.

Tien Giang Water Supply Company Limited has operated to regulate water supply and supply water through public taps to downstream areas with water shortages.

Currently, the People's Committee of Tien Giang province is considering the time to transport fresh water to supplement 2 raw water ponds in Tan Phu Dong district.

Proactively living with drought and salinity

Tien Giang province has successfully protected and harvested 44,883 hectares of winter-spring rice for the 2023-2024 crop; 21,720 hectares of various vegetables and food crops; and provided enough irrigation water for 84,192 hectares of fruit trees. Up to this point, drought and salinity have not caused damage to agricultural production.

At the meeting, Tien Giang province proposed that the Central Government support the province in building Tra Tan and Ba Rai sluices to close the Bao Dinh expansion project area to protect about 130,000 hectares of agricultural land for the two provinces of Tien Giang and Long An; including 70,000 hectares of fruit gardens with high economic value of Tien Giang province.

At the same time, recommend the Central Government support the province to upgrade and expand the reservoir.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha gave a speech at the meeting.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha said that heat, drought, saltwater intrusion and subsidence are common issues in the Mekong Delta. We have truly adapted and lived with saltwater intrusion.

In the current context, climate change and extreme weather are becoming more and more severe and difficult. Tien Giang and other localities have implemented many synchronous solutions on irrigation infrastructure and non-structural projects, showing that the provinces have controlled the drought and salinity situation.

In particular, with the proactive provision of full and accurate information and production management of the region, compared to previous droughts and salinity periods, in the 2024 dry season, production and business activities of localities are mostly unaffected.

There is a shortage of domestic water, but it is localized in some localities. Basically, people are still provided with centralized water from the state or public-private form. Localities are very responsible in providing domestic water to the people.

So far, the heat, drought and saltwater intrusion this year are not as severe as in 2019-2020, but are more severe than many years.

However, localities have had plans and projects, especially in directing and operating, promoting on-site, providing centralized water, providing information and people's participation and awareness in water reserves...

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the experience in responding to drought and salinity in localities needs to have a vision for the delta and be placed in the context of a more extreme situation due to a lack of fresh water from upstream.

Therefore, we must proactively live with drought and salinity and have fundamental, synchronous solutions throughout the region as well as locally.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha agreed to invest in irrigation infrastructure systems according to allocation based on the nature of water resources.

In the long term, localities must consider connecting water plants to bring clean water to the people. At the same time, for sparsely populated areas and difficult locations, it is necessary to consider relocating residents, including landslide areas...

Trong Nghia

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/pho-thu-tuong-tran-hong-ha-lam-viec-ve-cong-tac-phong-chong-han-man-a657965.html