The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is urging the
Government to fund its plan to ensure the safety of reservoirs during this
year’s rainy season.

Tam Son Reservoir in the central province of Binh Dinh’s Phu Cat District, with a capacity of 1.1 million cu.m, was upgraded to provide water for 150ha of crops. More than $104 million is needed to repair and upgrade the country’s reservoirs, the ministry says. (Photo: VNS)

Under
the ministry plan, VND3 trillion (US$143 million) is needed to repair degraded
reservoirs this year nationwide.

More
attention needed to be paid to the condition of reservoirs due to the
significant role they play in the country’s economic development, said
Department of Water Resources deputy director Vu Van Thang.

The
reservoirs supply water for agricultural and industrial production and for daily
use, as well as generate electricity, but their role in controlling flooding is
also of great importance, Thang said. However, most of the reservoirs date from
the 1970s and 80s and are in a degraded condition due to a lack of funds for
maintenance.

The
condition of the reservoirs now threatens the safety of people in the lowlands
during the rainy season, he said. The department has therefore issued an
instruction to take steps toward ensuring the safety of the reservoirs,
including upgrading drainage systems, improving the capacity of reservoir
management officials, and raising community awareness to protect the reservoir
systems.

Inspections of reservoirs in the northern region and Central Highlands were
ordered, with results to be reported to the ministry by the end of this month,
while the central and southern regions were given until August 31 to report back
and work out timely measures to deal with flooding in the coming rainy season.

Rainfall
is predicted to be about 40-60 per cent above normal in the first two months of
this year’s rainy season, according to the National Centre for Hydro –
Meteorological Forecasting.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News