Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s urban environment, especially in big cities,is facing numerous challenges, including air and water pollution, solid wastetreatment and flooding, according to the 2016 National Environmental Reportissued in Hanoi on July 20.

The report by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmentsaid that on average, during more than 70 days of the year dust concentrationsof PM10 and PM2.5 are much higher than the permitted concentration. In thenorthern region, winter days between November and March often record higherdust concentrations than other days.

Only 42 of about 790 urban areas across the country havewastewater treatment systems meeting standards, the report said. In Hanoi, only20.6 percent of household wastewater is treated before being discharged intothe environment.

Rivers, lakes and canals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are themost polluted, among To Lich, Lu and Set rivers in Hanoi, and Tan Hoa–Lo Gom,Ba Bo, Tham Luong canals in HCM City.

The report also pointed out that 46 percent of underground waterin Hanoi was found to contain higher than permitted arsenic concentrations,especially in the two districts of Hoang Mai and Long Bien.

Although 85 percent of solid waste was collected in urban areas ofthe country, the percentage of solid waste treated according to standards wasvery small.

The report said solid waste was mainly treated by burying andburning, but most dumping sites and incinerators failed to meet standards.

Urban areas have suffered from flooding during torrential rains inrecent years, especially in Hanoi and HCM City.

Hoang Duong Tung, deputy director of the ministry’s VietnamEnvironment Administration, said vehicle fumes and construction sites aremainly to blame for air pollution in urban areas.

Coaches and trucks were found to mainly discharge nitrogen dioxide(NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), while motorbikes mainly emit carbon monoxide(CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), he said.

Vietnam now has about 47 million motorbikes and about threemillion cars, he said.

Increasing population in urban areas and inadequate infrastructurewere responsible for the virtually total absence of wastewater treatmentsystems meeting standards, he said.

[♐Vietnam’s cities discharge 70 percent of total CO2]

The small rate of solid waste treated in urban areas is attributedto lack of investment and backward technologies for collecting and treatingwaste, he said. Poor drainage systems due to poor planning in urban areas wasthe main cause of flooding, he said, adding that high tides triggered byclimate change also resulted in the inundations in big cities, such as HCMCity.

The report also provided recommendations to remedy the problems.Authorised agencies were advised to tighten control to minimise emissionsources, including conducting more checks on vehicle emissions as well asensuring sanitation at construction sites.

Additional wastewater treatment systems need to be built in urbanareas and drainage systems upgraded to prevent flooding during torrential rainsand high tides.

The administration of urban areas was asked to invest more in newtechnologies to improve their capacity to treat waste.

The national environmental report included a section on majorenvironmental incidents in 2016. The first was the massive fish deaths in fourcoastal provinces caused by the Taiwanese Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh SteelCorporation in April 2016 by releasing toxic wastewater into the sea. Thecompany has compensated the people affected.

The report also mentioned the water pollution in Buoi river in thenorthern province of Hoa Binh between March and April 2016, after a factorydischarged untreated wastewater into the river.

Also listed was the case of 190 tonnes of fish killed by waterpollution in Hanoi’s West Lake in September.

The next incident was the collapse of the reservoir of thetitanium exploitation project implemented by Tan Quang Cuong Company in BinhThuan province, leaving thousands of cubic metres of red mud overflowing intoNam Thuan Quy tourism site and flooding the roads. The ministry said poormanagement by the local administration and poor implementation of environmentalprotection by the mine’s owners were to blame.

Agencies must draw lessons from these painful incidents to ensuresuch disasters do not recur, the ministry said.-VNA