Pollution of water sources beyond the control due to production, mining activities required Vietnam to build a strong and effective legal framework to prevent water contamination. Alarming numbers on water pollution Through surveys and studies, the pollution of water resources is at an alarming rate.
Alarming number on water pollution
2,360: Surface water systems in Vietnam are more than 2,360 rivers and streams and thousands of lakes and ponds. However, the water resources are degrading due to overfishing and severe pollution in different levels. Even many rivers, ponds, streams and lakes become dead.
0%: According to the assessment of Institute of Environmental Science and Development, no study points in the rivers in Hanoi reached Type I (no or light contamination). Because millions of cubic meters of domestic wastewater, industrial wastewater are discharging everyday to the rivers, that make the extent of pollution is getting worsened.
17.2 million: in Vietnam about 17.2 million people (equivalent to 21.5% of the total population) are using drinking water from wells, which has not been tested or treated, according to the National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health.
9,000: According to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 9,000 people die from water and poor sanitary conditions in Vietnam each year.
40-50%: In some localities, after observing cases of cancer and gynecological inflammation, 40-50% cases are due to the use of contaminated water.
According to Assoc.Dr. Pham Van Loi, Director, Institute of Science for Environmental Management (VEA) said that the quality of contaminated water is at an alarming rate due to nutrient, organic substances, suspended solids exceeding allowable limits such as Cau, Thi Vai, Nhue, Day and Dong Nai rivers. Until now, there is no specific document which specify specific regulations on controlling water pollution.
According to experts, the management of water pollution nowadays in Vietnam has lots of shortcomings because of uniformity. There are many water management agencies but we lack specialized organizations responsible for managing water pollution. Many regulations concern water pollution control in different legal documents but there is no law on water pollution control.
Let’s take an example, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and a number of relevant ministries and agencies do not unify their responsibilities for water management control. Sometimes, overlap functions exist among ministries.
In addition, organizations such as the National Council on Water Resources, Committee of River Basin Planning Management, Environmental Protection Committee and the Offices of River Basins do not really promote their roles. Most members of these organizations work part-time therefore, they do not focus on their assigned responsibilities.
Although Vietnam has some laws, decrees and regulations on water pollution control, such as Water Resources Law, Environmental Protection Law, there are currently no specific documents regulating rules on water pollution control. Not only that, the legal documents on water pollution prevention and control are still insufficient. The content in the documents are not specific and sufficient.
According to many policy analysts, inadequacies in legal documents to prevent and control water resources exist in many stages such as “prevention” has not been given due attention, mainly carried out in the handling of violations of test Last investigate the source. Besides the processing thoroughly lacking guidance, no specific provisions on processing technology. The role of the community in monitoring fuzzy. Content prevent and control water pollution is not clearly defined responsibilities, yet detailed delineation of the tasks involved.
Many countries around the world have a private law controlling water pollution. Since 1970, Japan adopted a Water Pollution Control Act strictly regulating environmental standards of water quality. In China, the Law on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution had been launched since 1984 to tackle water pollution and serious water pollution accidents. The environmental regulations of Thailand to control water pollution include Conservation Improvement Act and the National Water Quality BE 2535 which have been implemented since 1992. The Philippine’s Clean Water Act came into effect since 2004.
Many experts believe that Vietnam should systematize all provisions on water pollution control to a consistent document. Therefore, Vietnam needs to make a separate law to control water pollution.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
