VietNamNet Bridge – A mass death of fish was reported on Saturday evening in a 14-km section along the Se Re Poc River in the Central Highland's Dak Lak Province due to heavy pollution caused by untreated waste water.

The waste water had been discharged directly from the Tam Thang and Hoa Thang industrial parks situated on two banks of the river.

One heavy polluter was a sugar company whose processing capacity was 1,500 tonnes of sugar cane per day inside Tam Thang Industrial Park. It was entering its peak period of production and discharged large volumes of untreated waste water into the river which is at a very low water level.

The Se Re Poc River has been contaminated over the last decade as trees on the banks had been chopped down, the natural vegetation composition had been replaced to allow land for cultivation purposes, and manufacturing mills in the neighbourhood discharged untreated waste water into the river.

Local fishers in Hoa Phu Commune complained that the pollution of the river had disrupted the river's resources causing difficulties in fishing and natural fish breeding. Many of them had switched to other livelihoods.

Last year, untreated waste water was released into the river, causing massive fish deaths three times.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News