Economy

Bac Hung Hai irrigation system through Hai Duong - Waiting for the day to be saved

HA KIEN - THANH CHUNG May 23, 2024 09:55

Some measures have been implemented and have had certain results. However, the pollution level of the Bac Hung Hai system remains high.

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If necessary, a river basin management board will be established, criminal proceedings will be considered for intentional discharge of waste, and satellites will be used to monitor the source of pollution in the Bac Hung Hai system. These are some of the latest measures being taken to gradually save the great irrigation project that is being "suffocated" every day.

From historical mission to... beingsuicideevery day

On October 1, 1958, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong made the first hoe cut at the Xuan Quan sluice construction site, inaugurating the construction of the Bac Hung Hai irrigation project.

Tens of thousands of soldiers, students and laborers from Gia Loc, Binh Giang, Thanh Mien districts (Hai Duong); Gia Luong, Thuan Thanh (Bac Ninh); Kim Dong, Khoai Chau, Van Giang (Hung Yen)... eagerly went to the construction site, marching with the spirit of victory. Many dikes along this project were covered with slogans, red flags with yellow stars fluttered, and loudspeakers blared day and night...

Excerpt from the documentary Water Returns to Bac Hung Hai produced by Vietnam Film Studio in 1959

The spirit and momentum of those October days of 1958, the days when the army and people were highly determined to build a project that carried the Party's will and the people's heart, are also unforgettable memories for Mrs. Nguyen Thi Soi in Pham Tran commune (Gia Loc). Mrs. Soi was one of hundreds of young men and women from Nam Cau village who built the dike and dug Dinh Dao canal, one of the major water projects of the Bac Hung Hai system. Having turned 101, although her memory has been somewhat erased by time, the memories of those days of enthusiastic competition at the construction site are still the same as ever.

Overcoming the enormous workload with the spirit of solidarity and self-reliance, after only 7 months, on May 1, 1959, the great irrigation project dug by the people's strength was completed. The project ensures the supply of irrigation water for more than ten thousand hectares of rice, crops, industrial trees and drainage for nearly 20,000 hectares of the basin. Thanks to this irrigation system, not only the area, productivity and output of rice increased significantly, but the structure of agriculture in the region was also strongly transformed, bringing great efficiency.

What about now? Heavy pollution. “Back then, we competed in construction, using human strength to overcome nature. Each part of the work was completed, writing the epic poem Bac Hung Hai. Since then, countless rice fields and vegetable beds have grown thanks to water, countless families have escaped poverty and stabilized their lives. But now, Bac Hung Hai's water is polluted. I am so sad and disappointed,” Mr. Soi shared.

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According to statistics from Bac Hung Hai Irrigation Works Exploitation One Member Co., Ltd. (Bac Hung Hai Company), by the end of 2023, there will be about 3,600 sources of discharge into this irrigation system, with a total estimated flow of more than 502,000 m3/day and night. Of which, domestic wastewater accounts for 58.81%, industrial wastewater accounts for 24.6%, aquaculture wastewater accounts for 7.35%, livestock wastewater accounts for 5.53%, the rest is wastewater from production, business, medical and craft villages.

The total number of wastewater discharge sources into the Bac Hung Hai system that require licensing is 1,950. However, by the end of September 2020, only 295 facilities had been licensed and only 94 licenses were still valid.

The pollution problem of the Bac Hung Hai system is very serious, but the treatment is extremely difficult. The main cause is untreated wastewater discharged directly into the system. According to Bac Hung Hai Company, only nearly 19% of the total wastewater generated has been treated, of which industrial wastewater accounts for more than 60%. Most of the wastewater from domestic, craft villages, livestock, and small-scale production facilities has not been treated, leading to wastewater discharged into the irrigation system exceeding the natural self-cleaning capacity of the canals, causing the level of water pollution to increase.

Serious pollution has increased sharply over the years. The rate of samples with 5 or more parameters exceeding standards increased from 17.5% in 2005 to 69.44% in 2021; the rate of samples with serious pollution increased from 10.52% in 2005 to 75% in 2021.

Hai Duong - The end of the source"suffered enough"

In Hai Duong province, the Bac Hung Hai irrigation system passes through 7 districts and cities including: Cam Giang, Binh Giang, Tu Ky, Gia Loc, Ninh Giang, Thanh Mien and Hai Duong city with a length of 124 km, including 8 main canal routes: Kim Son, Cuu An, Tay Ke Sat, Trang Ky, Dinh Dao, Kenh Cai, Long Khe - An Tho, Long Khe - Cau Xe.

The upstream point of the Bac Hung Hai system flowing through Hai Duong is Tranh sluice in Thuc Khang commune (Binh Giang).

Before the great irrigation project Bac Hung Hai was built, the fields in this area were thirsty for every drop of water while the Red River was flowing. Rain for 3 days caused flooding, and sun for 3 days caused drought. People's hearts were broken with the fields, and they were in pain as the rice plants withered. Water was the wish of more than 1 million farmers in 3 provinces at that time. Now, the Bac Hung Hai irrigation system is in place, and there is water, but the water is dirty, so dirty that many people complained: "Bringing water in is half-happy that the fields have water, half-worried that it is dangerous, not knowing if the rice plants can handle it, or if the rice grains will affect their health?"

Ms. Luu Thi Thiep, born in 1963, living in Tranh slope, Thuc Khang commune (Binh Giang) was upset: "Rice and vegetables cannot be irrigated with water from the Bac Hung Hai system because it is too polluted. As for us, it feels like we are being tortured, especially on sunny days, the stench is so bad that it is suffocating." Ms. Thiep's family has 5 sao of rice fields, but instead of using water from this system, she has to use water from a drilled well.

Living next to Tranh culvert, Ms. Luu Thi Thiep and many other households in Thuc Khang commune (Binh Giang) cannot use water from the Bac Hung Hai system to irrigate crops.

At the end of February 2023, the water source in the Bac Hung Hai irrigation system through Binh Giang district was seriously polluted, with no irrigation water, causing more than 100 hectares of rice in this district to dry out.

From the beginning of 2024 until now, data from a quick report publicly released on the website of Bac Hung Hai Company shows that at many times in the upstream area of ​​Tranh sluice, that is, in Hung Yen, the water is black and has a foul smell.

The Bac Hung Hai irrigation system through Hai Duong not only has to endure pollution from upstream, but also heavily polluted within the province. In Hai Duong city, the T1 canal drains wastewater from the craft village of Tu Minh ward, part of the residential area to the west through Lo Cuong pumping station; the T2 canal drains wastewater from residents, hospitals, and industrial clusters in Hai Duong city, and are the two most polluted canals. The water is always black as ink, has a strong stench, and even has a lot of scum and foam.

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T2 Channel
Nước từ kênh T2 đen kịt
The water is always pitch black and smells bad.
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even float
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Binh Lau sluice gate is also in the same condition.
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causing Ms. Pham Thi Que at No. 1 Binh Loc Street, Tan Binh Ward (Hai Duong City) and many other residents here to have to stuff rags at the door to prevent the smell from entering the house.

The area considered the "cleanest" is probably the last point of the Bac Hung Hai system: Cau Xe culvert, An Tho culvert in Tu Ky district because people can still use water from this system to water crops.

Waiting every dayrescue

Who poisoned the Bac Hung Hai system? At Cau Bay River, the section flowing through Gia Lam District (Hanoi), the river water is always in a state of black, foul smelling because it receives daily wastewater from a series of industrial parks and residential areas in some localities of Hanoi. Thus, the untreated polluted water flows directly into the source of Bac Hung Hai River.

And so the fields were left dry and cracked just like the days before this irrigation system was built.

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Not far from Xuan Thuy culvert is a small canal that flows through the industrial cluster of Tan Quang commune, Van Lam district (Hung Yen) and Kieu Ky commune, Gia Lam district (Hanoi). Every day, the complex of dyeing and textile facilities and factories in these two bordering communes together "poison" the canal with toxic chemicals.

Downstream are countless other discharge sewers in several areas of both Hanoi and Hung Yen.

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The ink-black water color of the Bac Hung Hai system passing through Yen My district (Hung Yen)
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Black water poisons the Bac Hung Hai system in Nghia Tru commune (Van Giang, Hung Yen)
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Black water flows through Kieu Ky culvert (Gia Lam, Hanoi) straight into Bac Hung Hai system.
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Black, thick water from Tran Thanh Ngo canal (Hung Yen) flows directly into the Bac Hung Hai system.

Just search on Google and you can easily find a series of images, clips, and information about the pollution level of the Bac Hung Hai system as we just mentioned.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security, from July 2023 to March 2024, the Department of Environmental Crime Prevention and Control (C05) and the Hanoi, Hung Yen, Bac Ninh, and Hai Duong Police inspected and handled 55 cases of violations of regulations on environmental protection related to the Bac Hung Hai system, imposing administrative fines of nearly 8 billion VND.

There are places that have been punished by authorities many times for violations, but they still recur. A typical example is Pho Noi B Textile Industrial Park, Yen My District (Hung Yen) - one of the "black spots" causing water pollution.

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A typical example is Pho Noi B textile industrial park, Yen My district (Hung Yen) - one of the "black spots" causing water pollution, which has been punished many times by authorities.

This industrial park currently has 60 operating enterprises, of which 80% are textile and dyeing companies.

It is worth mentioning that this industrial park only has one wastewater treatment plant in operation, while another is in the process of completion.

Using underground pipes, this industrial park does not go through a wastewater treatment plant but discharges wastewater directly into the outside through the stormwater drainage system. The stormwater drainage system of this industrial park runs around the traffic axes, in front of the businesses.

The end point of this system flows into the rainwater tank, connecting with Tran Thanh Ngo canal and flowing into the Bac Hung Hai system.

As a result, untreated wastewater is like an "oil spill", not only in this industrial park, but also poisoning the entire Bac Hung Hai system.

In early August 2023, the Government Office issued Notice No. 315/TB-VPCP on the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha at the conference on environmental pollution treatment of the Bac Hung Hai irrigation system. In this document, 6 groups of solutions are mentioned. 8 Ministries: Natural Resources and Environment, Public Security, Agriculture and Rural Development, Industry and Trade, Construction, Science and Technology, Planning and Investment, Finance and 4 provinces and cities: Hanoi, Hung Yen, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong are assigned specific tasks.

According to Mr. Trinh The Truong, Chairman of Bac Hung Hai Company, the fundamental solution to solve the pollution problem of Bac Hung Hai irrigation system is that localities must have measures to collect and treat waste sources.

If administrative sanctions and repeated fines fail to resolve the issue, criminal prosecution must be initiated. This is the guiding viewpoint of the Ministry of Public Security regarding the Bac Hung Hai pollution. In the coming time, C05 will guide local police to pilot a number of cases to set an example and warn.

The National Remote Sensing Department (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) is planning to monitor high emission sources and pollution risks throughout the Bac Hung Hai system through direct data collected from the VNREDSat-1 remote sensing station, SPOT 6 and other auxiliary data types. From there, data on pollution sources, pollution status, along with parameters from monitoring stations will be extracted to forecast, warn and handle violations.

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment also emphasized that if necessary, a River Basin Management Board will be established and the authority and responsibility of the provincial People's Committee leaders will be clearly assigned, so that there will be drastic intervention and good coordination and connection between localities to limit environmental pollution as well as have the opportunity to save "dead" rivers.

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At the end of March 2024, the Xuan Quan field pumping station was put into operation. The station's 8 units pump 16 m3 of water per second from the Red River, contributing to diluting the polluted water source of the Bac Hung Hai system.

But this is not a complete solution. Treating the wastewater before discharging it into the system is what needs to be done. Because if the system is still poisoned by this thick, black, chemical-smelling water, how can we "dilute" it?

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Xuan Quan field pumping station
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Rainwater tank of Pho Noi B industrial park: thick black water, smell of chemicals, scum constantly flows out from the drain

On September 20, 1958, during his first visit to the construction site, President Ho Chi Minh emphasized the significance of the Bac Hung Hai irrigation project to the drought prevention work. He said that “if the Bac Hung Hai project is successful, every year the people will save millions of dollars in drought prevention work, and the harvest will increase even more. If we work hard now for a few months, we will enjoy lasting happiness for hundreds of years.”

However, in May 2024, exactly 65 years since the Bac Hung Hai project of the century was put into use, that meaning and expectation have worn out. People ask that after the determination, first of all demonstrated by the Government assigning tasks to each ministry, branch, and locality as mentioned above, when will Bac Hung Hai be revived?

Content:HA KIEN

Image:COMMON

This article has content advice fromJournalist DO DOAN HOANG, along with some images and information from Thanh Nien Newspaper

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Bac Hung Hai irrigation system through Hai Duong - Waiting for the day to be saved