Mekong Delta copes with drought, salt intrusion during Tet holiday

SGGP 27/01/2020 15:44

Drought and salt penetration have dried canals, cracked land, withered thousands of hectares of rice and put locals under the danger of water shortage for daily activities in the Mekong Delta during Tet holiday.

This rice field has been short of water for half a month (Photo: SGGP)

To prevent salt water from further penetrating inland, local authorities have closed sewers depleting many canals in fields. In Long Phu District of Soc Trang Province, thousands of rice area have been seriously short of water. Over 3,500 hectares will die without water in the next 10-15 days.

The agricultural agency in Long Phu District said that high salinity measuring from 3.7‰ to 3.8‰ makes it unable to open sewer gates for water to flow in. Meantime, northeast moonsoon has been getting stronger so it is forecast that drought and salt intrusion will be worse and reach its peak after the Tet holiday.

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Depleted canals along with high salinity has forced the water treatment plant in Soc Trang to temporarily stop operation, putting many households in the danger of water shortage.

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Cacked rice fields in Long Phu District, Soc Trang Province (Photo: SGGP)

Mekong Delta copes with drought, salt intrusion during Tet holiday ảnh 5

Canals in fields have been depleted (Photo: SGGP)

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26 year old Thach Sol said that his wife and he must go to Binh Duong Province to work for a living because they had spent all of their savings on over one hectare of rice and suffered dead loss because of drought (Photo: SGGP)