63% of Hanoi Rural Population Lack Access to Safe Water

Up to 63% of the rural population in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi do not have access to safe water, the city reported, which means that it is way behind the municipal government’s target of having 60% of the rural population using clean water this year. The low rate is attributed to sluggish constructions of water supply projects due to financial shortage, the city’s authorities explained. To speed up the construction, the authorities have called on private sector to invest in water supply projects. Currently, Hanoi is managing 106 water supply projects in 16 districts, but only 78 pumping stations are active, having capacity between 300 and 2,000 cubic meters of water per day and supplying water to 286,000 people. Lack of safe water causes environment pollution and a number of diseases to people. Hanoi’s water supply is about 900,000 cubic meters a day. The city is projected to fall short of between 40,000 cu.m/day and 60,000 cu.m/day in this summer. (Cong An Nhan Dan – People’s Police June 30 p1)