Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital was fined 20 million VND for illegally exploiting underground water.
Discovering that the underground water exploitation and use of Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital was not in accordance with regulations, the People's Committee of Cua Lo Ward made a record and fined this unit 20 million VND.
Exploiting underground water when the license expires 4 years
On August 4, 2025, the Working Group ofPeople's Committee of Cua Lo WardConduct inspection of groundwater exploitation and use activities of Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital.
Through inspection, the Working Group determined that Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital was granted a Groundwater Exploitation License No. 31/GP-STNMT.NBHĐ by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (old) from May 12, 2016; including 2 exploitation wells with the total maximum allowed water exploitation volume of 70m3/day and night; the permitted period for exploiting underground water according to the license is 5 years.
At the time of inspection, there were about 40m3 of water in the tank of Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital.3Water. Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital confirmed that since the expiration of the license to exploit and use underground water, the volume of underground water exploited and used at the highest stage is from 30 - 40m3/day, night.
From the inspection, the Working Group of the People's Committee of Cua Lo Ward concluded that Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital had exploited and used underground water for production, business and service activities with a flow rate of 40m3/day, night to under 50m3/day and night but without a license as prescribed in Point a, Clause 4, Article 9, Decree No. 36/2020/ND-CP dated March 24, 2020 of the Government.
Accordingly, it is recommended that the People's Committee of Cua Lo Ward impose administrative sanctions; at the same time, it is required that Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital, during the time of applying for a groundwater license, must temporarily suspend exploitation until the competent authority issues a license.
Considering the recommendation of the Working Group, on August 6, 2025, the People's Committee of Cua Lo Ward issued Decision No. 646/QD-UBNDsanction administrative violations in the field of water resources against Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital, with the amount of 20 million VND; at the same time, request Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital to stop underground water exploitation activities until it is granted a license by a competent authority in accordance with the provisions of law.
Rectifying groundwater exploitation activities
Cua Lo Ward is an area with many organizations, units, and business households that exploit and use underground water for production and business purposes. Therefore, in parallel with the inspection and handling of violations, on July 23, 2025, the People's Committee of Cua Lo Ward issued Document No. 138/UBND-KTHTDT "Regarding the request for granting underground water exploitation licenses" to organizations, units, hotels, restaurants, households, and individuals engaged in production and business in the area.
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 52 of the Law on Water Resources 2023; Article 7, Article 8, Article 25 of Decree No. 54/2024/ND-CP dated May 16, 2024 of the Government, in Document No. 138/UBND-KTHTDT, the People's Committee of Cua Lo Ward requests organizations, units, hotels, restaurants, households producing and trading in groundwater to declare, issue licenses for exploiting water resources and register for exploiting and using water resources.
Specifically, households using underground water for domestic purposes must declare water exploitation works. This declaration is intended to provide information to competent state management agencies to make recommendations to households on underground water quality, areas at risk of water level reduction, areas of land subsidence, areas at risk of saltwater intrusion and to serve the management and protection of underground water.
For cases where there are works exploiting and using water resources for production and business purposes but the scale does not exceed 10m3/day and night must register for underground water exploitation.
Particularly in cases of exploitation and use of underground water with a scale exceeding 10m3/day and night, subject to declaration, registration and issuance of water resource licenses, Cua Lo Ward People's Committee requests: "Urgently carry out registration procedures and issue water resource exploitation licenses in accordance with regulations (before August 10, 2025) to ensure strictness and equality; in cases where there is no license, illegal profits may be recovered and handled according to the provisions of the Penal Code and the law on water resources".
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hung - Vice Chairman of Cua Lo Ward People's Committee, if the exploitation of underground water is not strictly managed, the quality of underground water in Cua Lo area may be degraded, the water level may be lowered, subsidence may occur and there is a risk of saline intrusion and environmental pollution. Therefore, in the coming time, Cua Lo Ward People's Committee will focus on State management of water resources.
Mr. Nguyen Van Hung said: "The Ward People's Committee requests all organizations, units, hotels, restaurants, and households exploiting and using groundwater in the area to strictly comply with the provisions of the Law on Water Resources and related legal regulations, and promptly implement the contents that the ward has stated in Document No. 138/UBND-KTHTDT...".
