Thousands of Thanh Chuong households 'thirsty' for clean water after the flood

Mr. Ho Sy Van and a group of people in Kim Hoa hamlet have been helping households in the hamlet treat wells contaminated with alum and landslides for the past week, but they still can't keep up. Photo: Quang An

On the morning of November 5, we were present in Thanh Xuan commune, one of the affected localities.floodedthe most severe flood in Thanh Chuong district. At the commune People's Committee, there are many relief groups from the North, supporting people with food, clothes... and even bottled drinking water.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc in Kim Hoa hamlet, Thanh Xuan commune said that the flood water was nearly 2 meters deep. After the water receded, in addition to the heavy property damage, his whole family faced a shortage of food.domestic water, because the family's dug well was flooded with mud and contaminated with alum, and could not be used. In the past few days, the family had to go to households on the mountain to ask for water to drink. Today, a relief team arrived, and in addition to other material goods, the family hopes to receive bottled drinking water for use."

Most of the wells in Thanh Xuan commune, Thanh Chuong district were heavily polluted after the flood. Photo: Quang An

Mr. Ho Sy Van in Xuan Lan hamlet is repairing water wells for households and said: After the flood, most of the wells in the hamlet were damaged, contaminated with alum, eroded, or collapsed, the wells were full of mud... so his team of workers have been working hard all week but still can't keep up.

Mr. Dinh Van Sang in Xuan Lan hamlet, whose well collapsed, shared: Clean water is the most necessary because the family's dug well is full of mud and cannot be used. If the clean water does not improve, we will have to buy water for drinking, while the family does not have any money.

Underground water sources in Thanh Xuan commune are heavily contaminated with alum due to mud after the flood, making it extremely difficult to find water for daily use. Photo: Quang An

The well of Mr. Nguyen Duc Tai's family in Xuan Lan hamlet, Thanh Xuan commune collapsed due to floodwaters for many days and is currently unusable. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Tran Van Minh - Vice Chairman of Thanh Xuan Commune People's Committee said: After the flood, the whole commune had thousands of households lacking clean water, of which 200 households were seriously lacking water. The commune has propagated and mobilized people to focus on cleaning dug wells; for relief teams, the commune gives priority to households in heavily flooded hamlets. The commune has also proposed to the district to provide more chemicals to clean well water for people to use, to soon stabilize their lives.

Relief teams increase the supply of bottled drinking water to people in the flooded area of ​​Thanh Chuong. Photo: Quang An

According to Mr. Tran Phi Hung - Head of Department of Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentThanh Chuong districtg: During the recent historic flood, the entire district had over 4,000 households in the flood-prone communes: Thanh My, Thanh Tung, Thanh Ha... deeply submerged in water. Of which, the majority of households were affected by domestic water.

Mr. Dinh Van Sang's family in Xuan Lan hamlet, Thanh Xuan commune had to go around asking for water for daily use because the dug well was polluted. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Immediately after the flood, the district allocated 320 million VND from the budget to buy drinking water for the people; at the same time, the district assigned the district health center to use chemicals to treat well water for people to use. For the relief teams, the district proposed to support the people with necessities and bottled drinking water.

Mr. Tran Phi Hung - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Chuong district