Nghe An: More than 17,000 households are seriously lacking domestic water.

Due to her poor health, every few days, Ms. Dang Thi Thanh - Dong Nam hamlet, Quang Thanh commune, Yen Thanh has to ask her children to pull a cart to fetch water more than 1 km from home to serve the family's cooking and drinking needs. In the cramped kitchen, pots, pans, buckets and basins are all used to hold water.

Pots, pans, and buckets are used to store drinking water at Ms. Dang Thi Thanh's family. Photo: Phu Huong

“A few years ago, we had to go get water like this, but it rained less than a month, but this year the well has been dry for two and a half months. We only dare to use the water we get for cooking, for bathing we have to go to a neighbor’s house with a drilled well, and for washing clothes we have to take them to a dam 2 km away from our house,” Ms. Thanh shared.

People's wells have been dry for several months now. Photo: Phu Huong

According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Dong - an agricultural officer of Quang Thanh commune, currently in the commune, over 80% of the total 1,800 households are facing a serious shortage of domestic water. Currently, in the commune, there are nearly 60 wells drilled 50-70 m deep, and currently, most of the water source for daily life of the whole commune depends on it. "Currently, we are focusing on propaganda and mobilizing people to drill wells, use water economically, and share water resources with each other" - Mr. Dong said.

Ve Vung Lake has a capacity of 20 million m3Water in Yen Thanh district has been dry for more than a month now. Photo: Phu Huong

In Hamlet 3, Dien Loc Commune, Dien Chau District, for more than a month now, most households using dug wells have had no water to use. Ms. Cao Thi Sinh from Xuan Tinh Hamlet said: Usually, there is a water shortage in leap years, but never before has the well been dry for more than a month without any sign of rain like this year. We have to go to Xuan Duong Lake to buy water at 50,000 - 60,000 VND/m³should only use water for eating, but for bathing and washing we have to ask each other for well water.

Every day, people in Quang Thanh commune have another job: going to get water. Photo: Phu Huong

In the whole Xuan Tinh hamlet of 200 households, currently 130 households lack domestic water.

According to the synthesis from the Provincial Irrigation Department, on July 14, the whole province had only 4,000 households lacking domestic water, but by July 26, that number had increased to over 17,000 households, concentrated in the districts of Ky Son, Con Cuong, Que Phong, Thanh Chuong, Tan Ky, Yen Thanh, Dien Chau...

Ms. Cao Thi Sinh only uses water bought from Xuan Duong Lake for drinking and cooking sparingly. Photo: Phu Huong

“If the severe heat continues, the number of households lacking water for daily use will increase exponentially, because currently, water sources in ponds, lakes, and water sources are being and will continue to be rapidly depleted,” Mr. Nguyen Truong Thanh, Head of the Irrigation Sub-Department, worried.