VietNamNet Bridge – Fatal electrical accidents have been increasing at an alarming rate at shrimp ponds and crop fields in the Mekong Delta recently.

An illegal temporary electric wiring system in Ca Mau Province’s Dam Doi District. - VNA/VNS Photo

Local farmers are being blamed for the problem, due to their carelessness and unsafe use of power cables. In many cases, local residents tried to connect electricity to their fields or farms without considering technical and safety issues, leading to accidents.

In February, a farmer was killed after accidentally touching worn electrical wire near his shrimp pond in Soc Trang Province’s Vinh Chau Town.

Previously, another farmer in the same town died when fixing an engine in his shrimp pond.

These were among 25 fatal electrical accidents reported in the first nine months of this year, resulting in 25 deaths, according to the provincial branch of Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

The number has increased rapidly compared to last year, which saw eight accidents with six deaths.

In Ca Mau Province, the key shrimp farming area of the Mekong Delta region, the number of deaths was even higher.

Figures from the provincial EVN branch revealed that 34 accidents occurred since early this year, leaving 26 people dead and eight others seriously injured.

Phu Thi Trang, a farmer in Ca Mau Province’s Luong The Tran Commune told the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that her three shrimp ponds had been abandoned since her husband, Tran Van Muoi, and her nephew, only known as Nguyen, died.

They were killed due to an electrical short circuit.

Careless power use

“Local residents use electricity very disorderly and negligently,” chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Tien Hai said when asked about the high number of electrical accidents in the province.

Most of the victims illegally connected electricity from their house to their farms, ignoring warnings that electricity was extremely powerful and could be deadly if not connected out by qualified professionals, he added.

Thieu Van Minh, deputy director of the provincial EVN said that as many as 150 households had illegally connected electricity from their houses to their farms since early this year. Of the figure, 50 households repeated their violations twice and 10 repeated their violations three times.

The situation is similar in Dong Thap Province.

In April, Le Van Long, a farmer in Thap Muoi District’s Hung Thanh Commune died when connecting power to a modified mouse trap in his rice field. A day earlier, Nguyen Van Kieu, in Tan Kieu Commune, was killed when he touched his modified electric mouse trap.

A father and a son in Binh Thanh Commune were also killed near their fish farm in May due to faulty electric wires that the father illegally connected from his house to the fish ponds.

In the first nine months of this year, 13 fatal accidents occurred, killing 14 people. Most of the victims were reported to have used electricity carelessly to make modified mouse traps or operate engines to supply oxygen to fish ponds.

In some rural areas where the national grid network is not connected, this method has become popular, regardless of its dangers.

In Soc Trang Province’s My Phuoc Commune, hundreds of households in the commune sent power through temporary electric poles, made of bamboo or iron sticks, to their farms.

Pham Minh Ket, chairman of the communal People’s Committee said that illegal power connections could lead to the overload of the power supply lines, causing electric leakage and shortcuts or surges, especially during storms.

Huynh Minh Hai, director of the provincial Power Company said that all illegal electricity connections did not have required safety protection features. Most farmers only cared about saving money and ignored safety issues.

After a period of use, most electric wires would become worn, posing dangerous risks.

Nguyen Tien Hai, chairman of Ca Mau Province’s People’s Committee said that it was necessary to re-examine all shrimp farm electric wiring systems and cut violators’ power supply.

Nguyen Van Do, director of the provincial Department of Trade and Commerce said the power sector and local authorities plan to revise the priority list of rural wiring construction, bringing power supply to 10,810 shrimp farming households with total investment capital of VNDD358 billion (US$15.7 million).

Of the figure, in 2018, the power sector will invest VND126 billion ($5.5 million) to build power lines to nearly 1,000 households.   

Nguyen Van Hop, president and CEO of Electricity of Vietnam Southern Power said the power sector, in co-operation with authorities, planned to connect the national power grid to all rural areas by 2018.

The power sector will continue to raise awareness of local residents by disseminating information about safe power usage, he added. 

VNS