Water Shortage Widespread in Vietnam

Many parts of Vietnam are facing shortage of safe water, causing millions of people across the country difficulties in daily life and posing serious threats to farming, state media reported. Water shortage has also caused pollution and diseases as the country has nearly 250,000 people hospitalized due to acute diarrhea annually. Over the past four years, six diseases relating to safe water shortage caused damage worth $20 million for the country. In Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi, the dearth of safe water will worsen this summer. The city is projected to be short of between 40,000 and 60,000 cubic meters (cu.m) of water per day out of the supply of 910,000 cu.m/day in this summer, said Le Hong Quan, deputy director of the Construction Department’s Water Drainage Management Board. The shortage is partly attributed to a fall of between 1% and 2% in the underground water resources, plus the leakage rate of 23%. More than half of Hanoi’s urban residents use water in projects built since 1980s funded by Finland. Meanwhile, the southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City reports that as many as 33.5% of its running water are leaking. (Tin Tuc - News May 6 p3, Hanoi Moi - News Hanoi May 6 p1)