VietNamNet Bridge - Lao Cai province’s chair Dang Xuan Phong said the Red River’s water from the other side of the border with China is becoming more seriously polluted.

Phong made the complaint at a national online conference on environmental protection chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on August 24.  

Since 2011, the Red River’s water has become polluted, while the cross-border environment treatment solutions have been limited.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) set up an environment monitoring station in Lao Cai province to close watch over the Red River water status. 

Scientists from the Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change have also warned that China is exporting air pollution to Vietnam, saying that the effects of China’s ‘dust attack’ to the northern part of Vietnam are ‘worrying’.

However, the station can only give basic indexes and the efficiency is modest.

Phong proposed to set up more stations to monitor cross-border pollution. 

Meanwhile, deputy head of the Central Economic Committee Cao Duc Phat, who was Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, proposed strengthening international cooperation in protecting the environment and discussing solutions to Red River pollution and the Mekong River Delta.

Phuc requested MONRE to conduct surveys, give assessments and rank provinces and cities in terms of environmental protection. This will be an index like the provincial competitiveness index (PCI).

Scientists from the Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change have also warned that China is exporting air pollution to Vietnam, saying that the effects of China’s ‘dust attack’ to the northern part of Vietnam are ‘worrying’.

The situation is especially serious in winter when the northeast monsoon moves strongly. The wind helps bring dust and air pollution from China to northern provinces.

A research work by the institute’s scientists showed that in winter, 40-50 percent of pollutants’ concentration in the northern part of Vietnam is from outside Vietnamese territory, from the north and northeast.

The research also found that in winter the effects of the pollution from China to Vietnam may be up to 55 percent for SO2, 48 percent for NO2 and 30 percent for CO. This is a one-way effect from China to Vietnam.

The CO2 and NO2 concentrations in Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces were measured at 0.1 ppm, while the figures were 0.25-0.75 ppm in other provinces. As for SO2, the concentration was 0.015 ppm in Quang Ninh and Lang Son, and 0.0025 – 0.05 ppm in other provinces.

In summer, when the northeast monsoon works more weakly, pollution imports from China decrease by 4 percent of SO2, 2 percent of CO and 1.5 percent of NO2.

Scientists found that Vietnam also suffers persistent organic substances with content not lower than SO2. High concentration of SO2 is the reason that causes acid rain, harmful to crops and agricultural production.

Dat Viet