VietNamNet Bridge – Hundreds of households in Sa Binh Commune in the Central Highland province of Kon Tum are struggling to deal with a shortage of water, after suffering the affects of an early dry season.

Sa Binh People's Committee chairman Nguyen Minh Thuan said that 220 out of 550 wells were dry, and the remainder were running low.

Water levels in two local reservoirs located near the Pleikrong Hydro-electrical Plant are also worrying low, causing serious issues in the villages of Lung Leng and Binh Loong.

"The drought hit the locality about two months ago, causing huge water shortages for both agricultural production and day to day life," he said.

Local residents have attempted to dredge wells, but to no avail.

Students at Sa Binh Secondary School were sent home because there was not enough water for daily activities, said school principal Truong Van Hong.

The commune would run out of water by the end of this month unless the situation changed, Thuan said, adding that it could become worse, given that it was only the start of the dry season.

Meanwhile, nearly 5,000ha of crops, mainly coffee and rice, in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak are going dry.

The three biggest irrigation reservoirs in the province were now unable to supply water for over 3,000ha of coffee and nearly 700ha of rice, said head of the province's Irrigation Department Pham Tien Sang.

Despite extensive irrigation infrastructure in the province, water levels had only reached 60 per cent capacity this year, according to the department.

* Whale dies on Khanh Hoa beach

A 200kg whale died on the coast of Khanh Hoa Province in Ninh Ich Commune yesterday afternoon, March 16, 10 hours after it beached.

Chairman of the commune's People's Committee Nguyen Cong Toan said the 2m long whale had been found badly injured in the morning by local people.

He said he had not reported the struggling mammal to the local Oceanography Institute, given its critical condition.

The whale had been spotted off the coast by fishermen a few days before.

Local leaders and residents buried it after a traditional whale funeral that is considered to bring luck to fishermen.

Beached whales appear every few years in Khanh Hoa, and there are small temples where they are worshipped along the provincial coast.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News