VietNamNet Bridge – As many as 19 of the 43 industrial clusters in the capital city of Ha Noi do not have waste water treatment plants, an inspection by the municipal People’s Council has found.

Untreated waste water from the Trieu Khuc Village, which specialises in recycling plastic in Thanh Tri District’s Tan Trieu Commune, is discharged directly into the ponds and canals, polluting the water sources and emitting a foul smell. – VNA/VNS Photo

The inspection also found that among those which were operational, only half of the waste water treatment plants worked effectively.

Plants at eight clusters have not been operated or operated properly, although their construction has been completed, namely those in Bat Trang Cluster in Gia Lam District, Duyen Thai Cluster in Thuong Tin District, and Nguyen Khe Cluster in Dong Anh District.

In spite of being built in Thanh Tri District by 2007, a waste water treatment plant in Tan Trieu industrial cluster has not been put into operation, while enterprises here are mainly engaged in cloth dying, plastic recycling and paper production, discharging dozens of cubic metres of untreated water into the environment every day.

Many waste water treatment plants in the industrial zones do not have automatic monitoring systems as regulated.

The leaders of the municipal Department of Construction highlighted the difficulties faced in the management of a waste water treatment plant. Many enterprises do not work closely with the cluster management board to collect the waste water for treatment, they said.

The low awareness among the enterprises about environmental protection also affected the work, as they failed to comply with the written commitment on the issue.

According to Nguyen Quan, head of the Urban Committee, a comprehensive report of the situation should be set forth.

It was also necessary to clarify the responsibility of the parties concerned, relating to the fact that many waste water plants did not work or operate effectively, and impose due punishment on the violators.

VNS