At the question and answer session at the 27th Session of the People's Council of Soc Trang province, delegates raised the issue that the situation of clean water in rural areas in the province has not improved.
Responding to this issue, Mr. Huynh Ngoc Nha - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Soc Trang province - informed that currently the Provincial Center for Clean Water and Rural Environmental Sanitation (referred to as the Center) is managing and operating 141 centralized water supply works. The total licensed capacity is 115,008m³/day and night. The total length of the water supply pipeline under management is more than 3,579 km, serving water supply for over 147,618 rural households in districts and towns. The average water supply flow is about 100 liters/person/day. The rate of rural people using clean water meeting national standards from the centralized water supply system is 64%.
The leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Soc Trang province said that currently, underground water resources are decreasing, some places are affected by salinity while the demand for clean water of the people is increasing, leading to localized water supply impacts at some water supply stations. The water supply system is overloaded due to the need to expand the network. Each year, the investment unit opens about 50,000m of pipelines but has not met the needs of people in the province.
The center also had to focus on implementing many projects to relocate water supply pipelines with a total length of more than 100km due to projects to upgrade and expand traffic infrastructure, so water supply was often interrupted.
The procedure for requesting permission to increase the exploitation flow still faces many difficulties (Environmental Protection Law No. 72/2020/QH14, dated November 17, 2020) and must carry out procedures for environmental impact assessment, environmental licensing, land allocation and land lease procedures at water supply stations. The Center is still lacking in initiative, responsibility, and confusion, affecting the water supply situation for the people.
The leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Soc Trang province informed that in the period of 2023-2030, from the industry's programs and projects, it is expected to build about 20 centralized water supply stations, expand 3,348 km of pipelines, and provide nearly 99,445 more households. Up to now, 4 new water supply works have been built, 159,157m of pipelines have been expanded, and the clean water needs of more than 10,525 rural households in the province have been met.
Maintain and clean the entire water supply pipeline network with a total length of 3,579km at all water supply stations. Research and gradually limit the exploitation of groundwater and gradually switch to using surface water at some centralized water supply projects.
