The Ca Mau Province People's Committee has just reported the severe drought situation affecting the freshwater conversion areas of the locality to the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The People's Committee of Ca Mau Province said that the canals in the freshwater conversion area of Tran Van Thoi District has gotten so dry due to the ongoing severe drought situation.
Up to now, 131 canals with more than 500 points in total have been under subsidence and landslides , damaging more than 14.5 kilometers in length with more than VND19 billion (US$766,929).
Amid the above situation, the People's Committee of Ca Mau Province proposed to the Ministry, centrally-run sectors and scientists in the field of handling the problems of subsidence and landslides in traffic and irrigation systems to support the technical solutions to overcome, perform planning and rearrangement of production, population, transportation and irrigation systems in a synchronous and effectiveness.
The Provincial People's Committee said that the irrigation system needs to be prioritized to build and complete in the freshwater zone; a new steel dam system and field pumping stations need to be promptly invested with the purpose of subdividing zones with an area of 500 hectares to 1,000 hectares.
Additionally, it is important to proactively conduct volume regulation of water in freshwater areas, and limit pumping into the Doc River and the West Sea.
Therefore, the province proposed the Ministry and Centrally-run sectors support investment costs of about VND197 billion (nearly US$10 million) for five irrigation systems.
Besides, the People's Committee of Ca Mau Province also proposed investment support of VND241 billion (US$9.7 million) into a clean water supply project in rural areas serving about 13,900 households; about VND60 billion (US$2.4 million) to improve the ability to control forest fires, ensuring proactivity and effectiveness in forest fires fighting in the U Minh Ha National Park and the Hon Khoai island cluster forest.
