VietNamNet Bridge – The Dong Nai river system is becoming increasingly polluted due to socio-economic development activities in the region, heard the Protecting Dong Nai River conference on Tuesday.

HCM City fails to protect river

Ammonia levels in the river's estuaries including the Sai Gon River exceeded the national criteria of water quality, according to the Environmental Technology Centre (ENTEC).

ENTEC reported that nearly 2 million cubic metres of industrial waste water was discharged into the Dong Nai River every day, not counting another 2.7 million cubic metres directly discharged from urban areas.

"The Dong Nai River is regarded as a major artery in the eastern provinces and the neighbourhood. However, its water flow is on the decline," said Dr Nguyen Van Ba, deputy head of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment's (MNRE) Science and Technology Department.

He highlighted its importance to the lives of more than 17 million people in the region.

The river runs through the 12 provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Long An, Tay Ninh and HCM City, and the region is home to 103 industrial and processing zones.

A Viet Nam Water Resource Association report showed that in 2010, there was only enough water in the Dong Nai River to provide 2,000cu.m of water for each person annually, a decrease from 2,480cu.m in 2005. It warned that the supply would drop to 1,770cu.m by 2020.

In accordance with international standards, if a region is only able to supply 4,000cu.m of water for each local resident annually, it is considered to be facing a serious shortage of fresh water.

A report about Binh Duong Province's environmental status revealed only 20 per cent of production units outside industrial zones had standard waste water treatment systems and nearly 40 per cent of industrial zones discharged waste water directly into the rivers beyond acceptable levels.

Relevant authorities were also worried about medical waste water that was further polluting the river system. An environmental report on Dong Nai Province indicated that 35 per cent of medical waste water was pumped directly into the environment without any treatment.

MNRE spokesman Le Van Hop said that sand exploitation by builder's merchants was also damaging the river system, particularly the Sai Gon River.

"The massive exploitation of sand will reverse the water flow and possibly erode the river bank, which will directly affect water transport as well as related production and business activities." said Hop.

"I strongly recommend localities to enhance supervision to ensure sand exploitation is reasonable," he added.

Ba added that for the first time, the Government had integrated environmental criteria into the socio-economic development direction targets for the 2006-2010 period, and spent one per cent of the GDP on environmental protection.

However, he said, the investment of financial and human sources for communication about environmental protection remained unsatisfactory.

Nguyen Van Phan, head of MNRE's Environment Communications Department, said to effectively protect the river system, industrial zones, enterprises and medical centres should improve treatment facilities.

"The problem is the enterprises' poor awareness of waste water treatment," he finished.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News