Domestic waste is dumped everywhere, causing pollution and clogging the irrigation canal of Vuc Mau Lake.

Hoang Mai Irrigation Enterprise hired Hoang Mai Urban Environment Company to scoop up trash to clear the irrigation canal and take the waste for treatment in February 2022. Photo: Contributor

Since the beginning of the year,Hoang Mai Irrigation Enterprisehad to hire Hoang Mai Urban Environment Joint Stock Company to bring machines to scoop and transport garbage to the collection site, each time costing nearly 10 million VND and the volume of garbage was over 10 tons of garbage to clear the flow. However, the treatment did not last long because after only 1 month, the garbage was dumped back to the siphon point of the irrigation canal bordering Quynh Van commune and Quynh Xuan ward.

Dead animals drifting into the canal make it extremely difficult for the irrigation unit managing the canal to handle the situation. Photo taken in February 2022 provided by the Northern Irrigation Company Limited. Photo: Contributor

Arriving at the above canal on the afternoon of April 18, we noticed that the garbage was still continuously pouring in and now lengthening the already flooded canal by nearly 30 meters, the flow here was blocked and the garbage had decomposed, giving off a foul smell. Talking to us, a resident of Hamlet 10, Quynh Van Commune added: in addition to household waste, there were times when dead animals such as chickens, ducks, and even pigs floated in, giving off a foul smell that was very unsanitary and posed a risk of disease and pollution of irrigation water sources.

On April 18, after only nearly 2 months of treatment, at the irrigation canal bordering Quynh Van and Quynh Xuan communes, the garbage was backlogged again. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Garbage stagnant at Quynh Van commune canal is one of 5 frequently blocked points at the unit. Garbage here comes from many sources, from upstream.Vu Mau Lakeare Quynh Trang, Quynh Tan communes to Mai Hung, Quynh Xuan and Quynh Van. The enterprise has repeatedly caught people dumping waste and made records and handed them over to the local authorities for handling and coordinating propaganda but to no avail. The difficulty in handling waste that clogs irrigation canals is not only the cost of dredging but also that it cannot be scooped up immediately and if scooped up, there is no place to dump it and no one knows where to dump it.

Mr. Pham Hong Phu - Deputy Director of Hoang Mai Irrigation Enterprise said

Household waste combined with mud and soil causes the canal to become congested, unable to flow through the siphon to supply irrigation water to the fields south of National Highway 1A, Quynh Van commune. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Engineer Tran Dinh Hoa - Representative of Technical Department,Bac Nghe An Irrigation Company Limitedsaid: the irrigation canal system brings water from Vuc Mau to the downstream communes of Quynh Van, Mai Hung, Quynh Xuan, Quynh Yen... not only serves water for production but alsodomestic water supplysome residential areas. If the littering situation is not stopped, it will be very harmful and potentially spread disease to livestock, poultry and humans.

For now, the Company is allocating funds for treatment, but we hope that the authorities of Hoang Mai town and Quynh Luu district, especially the authorities of the communes and wards on both sides of the irrigation canal, need to strengthen propaganda and raise awareness for people not to throw household waste indiscriminately into the irrigation canal; livestock and poultry with diseases must be treated according to separate procedures to ensure hygiene requirements.

Engineer Tran Dinh Hoa-Bac Nghe An Irrigation Company Limitedshare

Due to the congestion for more than a month without being treated, the garbage has emitted a foul smell, affecting the lives of people around Hamlet 10, Quynh Van Commune. Photo: Nguyen Hai

We found that the communes on both sides of the irrigation canal from the upstream such as Quynh Trang, Quynh Tan to the downstream such as Quynh Van commune, Mai Hung ward, Quynh Xuan (Hoang Mai town) have all met the standards.New rural areasand is gradually building civilized urban standards, communes and wards all have waste collection systems to bring waste to residential areas and neighborhoods, so there is no reason to litter. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring role of the community to detect littering, and it is necessary to condemn and strictly handle it to protect public hygiene./.