Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has demanded authorities in the central region focus on addressing consequences of recent abnormal downpours and floods amid the dry season.
The saline intrusion in the Mekong Delta region during this year’s dry season would occur earlier and be worse than previous years, warned the Department of Water Resources Management under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
Thousands of residents in the central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien – Hue will be able to get clean water from a project mitigating water shortages in the dry season that has started in the central region.
Saltwater intrusion will affect about 40,000ha of fruits and 5,000ha of rice in the Mekong Delta this month, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Irrigation Department.
Cai Lay district in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang is implementing a series of measures for natural disaster prevention in face of complicated weather developments, drought, and saline intrusion during the dry season.
The Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh will dredge its 18 main irrigation canals that run a total of 162 km in the next four years at a cost of 387 billion VND (16.7 million USD) to improve the supply of water for irrigation during the dry season.
Saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta in the 2020-2021 dry season will be less severe than in the 2019-2020 dry season, with the highest level expected to be in February and March in Mekong River estuary and in March and April in Vam Co and Cai Lon rivers.
The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre will step up measures over the next five years to cope with saltwater intrusion in its rivers during the dry season, according to the provincial People’s Committee.
The Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang has developed a plan to respond to drought, water shortage, and saline intrusion in the dry season in late-2020 and early-2021, a conference held by the provincial People’s Committee on October 5 heard.
The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang has stepped up measures to recover durian orchards damaged by severe saltwater intrusion and drought in the 2019 – 2020 dry season.
As many as 160 forest fires were reported across Vietnam in the last six months, destroying about 756ha of forest, according to the Vietnam Fire and Rescue Police Department under the Public Security Ministry.
The Mekong Delta has experienced the most severe drought and saline intrusion ever in the dry season 2019-2020 but the negative impacts on agricultural production and daily life were minimised significantly thanks to effective measures, a top official has said.
Farmers in the south-central province of Binh Thuan in areas without public irrigation systems have dug ponds, built small reservoirs, and installed efficient irrigation systems as drought occurs during the dry season.
All residents in rural areas of the Mekong Delta must have access to clean water, Nguyen Hoang Hiep, deputy minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said at a seminar held in Soc Trang province on May 27.
Indonesia has started cloud seeding to induce rain as the archipelago moves to head off annual forest fires blamed for blanketing swathes of Southeast Asia in toxic haze.
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