VietNamNet Bridge – A rubbish dump in Hoa Binh City, which was added onto the list of the most serious polluting contributors for five years, still exists. Every day, tens of cubic meters of waste water pour into the Da River, which is the water supply source for the capital city.

The rubbish dump poisons Da River

The rubbish dump in Tan Hoa ward is a temporary dumping ground, covering an area of 1.2 hectares and having the depth of 12 meters. Put into operation in 2004, the dumping ground has replaced the ground in Huu Nghi which was closed because of the overloading.

However, the temporary rubbish dump has become the only place in Hoa Binh City that gathers rubbish. With the population of 100,000, the rubbish dump every day receives 12-15 dumpers, which has made the landfill become overhead high.

Designed to become a temporary landfill, there has been no measure for rubbish treatment applied so far. With no preliminary waste water treatment station, the waste water from the dumping ground has been penetrating into the environment, thus causing serious pollution there.

In 2007, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment added the dumping ground into the list of seriously polluting units that need to be settled in 2003-2006 in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 64.

However, no measure to treat the pollution has been applied over the last five years. Local residents still have to live together with the rubbish and the pollution. More importantly, this may lead to the pollution to the upper Da River.

Since the pollution has become more and more serious, local residents have many times asked competent agencies to take actions to settle the problem. The Hoa Binh City Department of Natural Resources and the Environment has also asked the city people’s committee to treat the pollution and relocate the dumping ground. However, to date, no action has been taken.

Where does the Da River’s water go to?

The temporary dumping ground is located next to the main road in Tan Hoa ward, where there are a lot of passengers-by every day, and just some tens meters far from the Da River.

Bui Thi Thuy, a local resident, complained that she has been breathing the polluted air over the last many years. Thuy and neighbors many times tried contact the local authorities to ask for the intervention to settle the problem.

“However, nothing has changed. Flies and bad odor are the parts of our life,” she said.

Nguyen Dang Thai, who lives one kilometer far from the rubbish dump, also said that he “has been living together with the rubbish dump” for the last many years, and that the distance of one kilometer is not long enough to help him escape from the terrible smell.

“I once heard about a fertilizer production project. However, to date, the project has not kicked off yet. Therefore, the bad odor has become more and more serious. We sometimes leave meals untouched because of the flies and terrible smell,” Thai said.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Ngoc Thiet, also a local dweller, said the waste water from the dumping ground runs to the Da River. The water of the river has been used by Vinaconex water supply plant to generate clean water for Hanoi’s dwellers. This means that the dirty water has been provided to Hanoians for the last many years.

Compiled by Thanh Mai