Tran Hieu Nhue, Director of the Institute of Technique and Environmental Technology, said he agreed about the plan to pump the Red River’s water into To Lich to dilute To Lich water and rescue the polluted river.

“This is the easiest and quickest way to ease the pollution of To Lich at this moment. Don’t spend time arguing. Better to do immediately, or the river won’t be rescued,” Nhue said.

The expert believes that the method won’t result in pollution of nearby rivers as some people fear.

“Nearby rivers such as Nhue and Day are also polluted. Once we use Red River’s water to dilute To Lich’s water, the water will also dilute the polluted water of nearby rivers,” he explained.

The idea of using water from the Red River to dilute and clean the polluted To Lich has raised controversy among scientists.

Meanwhile, Ngo Dinh Tuan, chair of the Vietnam Association of Environment and Water Resources, affirmed that the pollution of nearby rivers is possible.

“Using Red River water to dilute To Lich water sounds very simple, but it is a difficult problem. We have to calculate where to get water, where to put it in, and how much water to pump. The calculations must be appropriate enough to prevent changes of the current which may put pressure on other areas,” Tuan said.

Tuan also pointed out problems in the project put forward by the Hanoi authorities.

First, the West Lake itself is suffering from pollution. When pumping water from a polluted area to a more serious polluted area, this won’t be able to settle the problem.

Second, when diluting To Lich water, the water capacity on To Lich will be increasing and it will overflow to nearby rivers (Nhue and Day), and back to the Red River. If so, the water of the rivers may also get polluted.

“The nearby areas such as Hung Yen, Ha Nam and Hoa Binh will suffer heavily from the water dilution of To Lich and they won’t accept this,” Tuan warned.

Nguyen Xuan Hao, deputy director of the Ha Nam provincial Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, has expressed his worry about the Hanoi’s plan to use Red River’s water to dilute To Lich, which would put pressure on the pollution treatment of the Day River in the locality.

Hao said Hanoi needs to consult with neighboring provinces and cities on the plan implementation. Hanoi organized a meeting discussing the solution on November 13, but Ha Nam agencies were not invited to the meeting. 

Mai Lan

Hanoi to use Red River’s water to clean To Lich River

An idea put forward 40 years ago has again been put into discussion: using water from the Red River to clean the polluted To Lich River.

Environment Minister checks on To Lich River cleaning project

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha has visited the site and checked the water treatment project at the To Lich River.