More than 2.93 million people in rural and mountainous areas in the Central Highlands of Tay Nguyen, or 72 percent of these areas’ total population, now have access to clean water, according to the Steering Committee for Tay Nguyen.

Dak Lak is leading the five Central Highlands provinces in this field, with 81 percent of all its people having clean water for their daily use.

The result is attributed to great investment in drilling wells and building water storage facilities and pipeline systems in areas where local people previously had to depend on natural streams and rivers for water. Dak Lak province alone built 90 water supply systems and drilled more than 220,000 wells in remote areas in Ea Sup, Cu M’gar, Krong Ana, Ma D’rak and Buon Don districts, bringing clean water to each household.

From now to 2020, Central Highlands provinces will strive to raise the rate of households having access to clean water to 85 percent in rural areas and 100 percent in urban ones.

The Central Highlands encompasses the provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Gia Lai and Kon Tum with a population of over 5.4 million people, 25.7 percent of them ethnic minority.-VNA