In recent days, the situation of pollution and riverbank erosion has been complicated on the Lo River and the Red River flowing through Phu Tho province.
Recorded on July 26 in Viet Tri ward (Phu Tho province), reporters witnessed a series of dead pigs floating on the water surface, many of which were stranded, giving off a strong stench.
Notably, this area is only about 300m from the raw water pumping station for Viet Tri Clean Water Enterprise. This is a place to process and supply domestic water to many central wards of Viet Tri and neighboring areas.
Mr. Nguyen Ut, a local resident, said: "This situation has been going on for a few days now. The river water is cloudy, with dead pigs, causing people to be extremely concerned about the quality of domestic water.
In the face of the Asian swine fever epidemic breaking out in Phu Tho, people are afraid that throwing pigs into the river will cause the pathogens to spread, making it difficult to prevent epidemics and seriously pollute the environment.
According to the Department of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries of Phu Tho province, the epidemic has appeared in 66 communes and wards, with 1,110 households with pigs infected with the disease. In total, more than 10,000 pigs were sick, died and destroyed with a weight of over 582 tons.
Currently, local authorities and functional agencies are conducting inspections and tracing the origin of the pigs drifting on the river and strengthening measures to prevent and combat pollution.
