Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has recently requested continued efforts to mitigate drought and saltwater intrusion, which annually occur across central coastal provinces.

He assigned the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development; Natural Resources and Environment; and Industry and Trade to direct relevant agencies and drought-prone localities to protect summer-autumn crops from the drought this year.

Municipal and provincial authorities were asked to promptly assist households that lack food and clean water.

The Ministries of Health, and Agriculture and Rural Development ought to guide affected residents how to prevent diseases and epidemics.

Since the end of 2014, a severe drought has wreaked havoc on many central coastal provinces, which is widely considered the worst occurrence in the last decade.-VNA