Prolonged heat, mountain people save every drop of water

Mr. Lang Van Tan's family in Ke Sung village, Mau Duc commune has two deep wells but both lack water. Photo: Ba Hau

Mau Duc commune currently has 8 villages, 3 of which are Ke Sung, Ke Noc, Ke Trang with more than 500 households and nearly 3,000 people are seriously lacking clean water for daily use. These are villages on the left bank of Lam river, they only use well water, but for the past 2 months all the wells here have dried up.

Because the commune has mountainous terrain, the process of digging and drilling wells to find water sources is very difficult. People have spent a lot of time and money to dig and drill wells but had to cover them up because they could not find a water source.

People carry water home for daily use. Photo: Ba Hau

Coming to Mau Duc commune on extremely hot days, you can feel the suffering of the people here. Almost every house prepares all the items to go to the stream to get water for storage. Mr. Lang Van Tan's family in Ke Sung village, Mau Duc commune has 2 deep wells but both have no water. To have water for daily use, he gathered all the items that could be stored and put them in Boi stream more than 2 kilometers from his house to carry water for use.

Mr. Tan said: “Every year from April to June, the water-carrying chorus repeats itself. But the Boi stream is almost dry, the water is only ankle-deep. People have to dig a small hole in the middle of the stream to get water. We are worried that when the stream dries up, where will the people here get water for daily activities?

In Ke Sung village, Mau Duc commune, there are 183 households, of which 80% are suffering from severe water shortage. Photo: Ba Hau

Mrs. Lang Thi Hoa in Ke Sung village, Mau Duc commune, Con Cuong district is also one of the households with severe water shortage. Her family has a well more than 10 meters deep, and every year they save enough for daily use. This year, due to the drought, the well has dried up. Despite her old age, to have water for use, she had to go down to the stream nearly 1 km from her house to get 2 cans of water.

Mrs. Lang Thi Hoa said: “We come home tired from work but there is no water for bathing, washing clothes, and daily activities. We have to carry cans down to streams and creeks, and travel very far to fetch water for use. It is very difficult. Now there are many difficulties, but we just hope to have enough clean water to use.”

Water sources in some streams are unsanitary and pose a risk of disease, but people still have to filter water for use. Photo: Ba Hau

According to a survey, in Mau Duc commune alone, there are more than 1,400 households, of which about 500 households are facing a lack of water for daily use. In some places, drilling down to 70 meters, even 100 meters deep, they encountered peat layers but had no water.

In addition, Don Phuc commune is also in a similar situation. There has been no rain in the area for more than 2 months. In the whole commune, there are nearly 1,000 households, of which about 300 have dry wells, not enough for daily use. Or hundreds of households in Trung Yen, Trung Chinh, Trung Huong villages of Yen Khe commune are also in the same situation, for nearly 2 months now, people have had to endure a serious shortage of water for daily use.

3 communes in Con Cuong are seriously lacking water: Mau Duc, Don Phuc, Yen Khe. Graphics: Lam Tung

Con Cuong district is one of the hottest areas in the North Central region with the highest temperature, commonly 37 to 39 degrees, sometimes over 40 degrees. The three communes with the most serious water shortage are Mau Duc, Don Phuc, and Yen Khe. According to the government, the lack of domestic water is disrupting the lives of many households, increasing the risk of intestinal diseases, pink eye, and environmental pollution.

Currently, rivers and streams in many communes of the mountainous district of Con Cuong are in a state of dry bottom. The prolonged drought has not only caused many households to "go bankrupt" due to lack of water for production, but also caused great difficulties in daily life.