Vuc Giong pumping station (Thai Hoa town) has been inactive for nearly 10 years.

Vuc Giong Pumping Station (Long Son Ward, Thai Hoa Town) was completed in 2014 but has not yet been put into operation. Photo: Van Truong

A resident in Long Son ward, Thai Hoa town said: His family grows 2 sao of rice fields but mainly depends on the water source from the sky so the productivity is unstable, while the Vuc Giong pumping station system is not operating so there is no water to irrigate the fields during the dry season.

Through research, it is known that Vuc Giong Pumping Station is one of the pumping stations in the Ban Mong irrigation project taking water from Hieu River, invested by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An.

This pumping station has 2 submersible pumps, an operator's house, a transformer station, 2 main canals nearly 3 km long, 4 primary canals more than 2.6 km long, with a total investment of over 30 billion VND. According to the design, this pumping station irrigates over 300 hectares/2 rice crops and crops in Long Son ward. After more than 10 years of construction, this pumping station has not been put into use.

The Vuc Giong pumping station canal system has been covered by grass and trees for many years. Photo: Van Truong

Present in the areaVuc Giong pumping stationI saw some canals running through the fields, due to not being used for a long time, they were covered with grass and trees, the canal bed was covered with moss and mold...

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc - Vice Chairman of Long Son Ward People's Committee said: In recent years, Long Son Ward has sent recommendations to the competent authorities, hoping that Vuc Giong pumping station will soon be put into operation to irrigate rice and crops for the people. Currently, most of the crop and rice areas of the people in this area do not have irrigation water, mainly depending on the weather.

Mr. Hoang Tran Lam - Director of Phu Quy Irrigation One Member Co., Ltd., said: In 2022, the Department of Construction Management (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development sent a working group to inspect and test run the pumping station and are currently completing procedures to hand over to Phu Quy Irrigation One Member Co., Ltd. for management and operation.

Dry fields next to the abandoned Vuc Giong canal system. Photo: Van Truong

"We are currently waiting for the official decision of the Provincial People's Committee. After the handover, we will try to put it into operation, because this is a large asset of the State, if it is not operated, it will be a waste. The unit will coordinate with the locality to conduct inspection and review of the actual irrigation area compared to the previous irrigation area," Mr. Lam shared.