Professor (GS) Dang Hung Vo - Former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) said that in Hanoi, the situation of people drilling wells to exploit groundwater for agricultural production appeared later than in the Mekong Delta.
The reason why people in Hanoi are forced to drill wells to get groundwater for cultivation is because the current irrigation system has not met actual needs. Meanwhile, during the rainy season, the irrigation system is not operating effectively, leading to local flooding in some places, and when it rains and is dry, the irrigation system is not operating effectively, so farmers are forced to drill wells to get groundwater to serve agricultural production.
Professor Dang Hung Vo warned that this is only a temporary solution for the people. If the situation of groundwater exploitation continues uncontrolled, it will leave serious consequences. Excessive exploitation and lack of management can cause groundwater levels to decrease, causing subsidence and especially environmental pollution.
Sinking is a direct threat, but water pollution is also a concern. When the groundwater level drops, the water content is easily contaminated from the surface. That is, during the farming process, pesticides and fertilizers can seep into the soil, polluting groundwater sources. Once the groundwater is polluted, treatment is extremely difficult, said Professor Dang Hung Vo.
Professor Dang Hung Vo believes that if groundwater exploitation activities for agricultural production are not controlled soon, in the long term, Hanoi may face the risk of subsidence and serious water pollution. Therefore, the government needs to pay special attention to investing, upgrading irrigation systems, ensuring effective irrigation, and at the same time leading surface water from rivers to serve agricultural production, reducing dependence on groundwater sources.
Previously, on October 27, Lao Dong Newspaper published information: "Waring of the risk of subsidence from underground water exploitation for cultivation" to reflect on the situation in some places in Hanoi, many farmers have to drill wells to get groundwater to maintain agricultural production.
