Water for farms in the northern and the Mekong deltas would be rationed to handle possible droughts, according to recent instructions from Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
The monsoon season has passed and flooding will subside in the next few months but the water levels in the Hong (Red) River and Thai Binh River are much lower than usual.
The National Hydrometeor-ological Forecast Centre forecast rainfall in December and the first few months of 2011 would drop to well below the average level of previous years.
The drought is threatening a large area and there is a severe shortage of water and power for agricultural work and living purposes.
Dung asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Electricity of Vietnam to carry out the plan to provide electricity and release reservoir water at intervals agreed with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
MARD would then provide a detailed plan for localities under which they would be instructed to use water economically and rotate their crops accordingly.
The ministry urged construction authorities to speed up work on hydro-electric plants so they could be put into operation quickly while also recommending that provinces should take the opportunity to collect water whenever it rained.
The centre forecast a cold front moving south this week that would bring rain to northern provinces and the northern part of the central regions.
Coastal areas in the north and central areas would also experience strong winds and rough seas./.
The monsoon season has passed and flooding will subside in the next few months but the water levels in the Hong (Red) River and Thai Binh River are much lower than usual.
The National Hydrometeor-ological Forecast Centre forecast rainfall in December and the first few months of 2011 would drop to well below the average level of previous years.
The drought is threatening a large area and there is a severe shortage of water and power for agricultural work and living purposes.
Dung asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Electricity of Vietnam to carry out the plan to provide electricity and release reservoir water at intervals agreed with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
MARD would then provide a detailed plan for localities under which they would be instructed to use water economically and rotate their crops accordingly.
The ministry urged construction authorities to speed up work on hydro-electric plants so they could be put into operation quickly while also recommending that provinces should take the opportunity to collect water whenever it rained.
The centre forecast a cold front moving south this week that would bring rain to northern provinces and the northern part of the central regions.
Coastal areas in the north and central areas would also experience strong winds and rough seas./.
