Plastic bags filled the carp release sites to worship Tao Quan in Vinh City.

Clip: PV

According to Vietnamese folk beliefs, the Kitchen God will ride a carp to Heaven to report to the Jade Emperor about the situation in the past year; and every December 23, people go to ponds, lakes, and rivers to release fish. According to the reporter's records, at noon on February 2, 2024 (December 23), people in Vinh City gathered in large numbers at rivers and lakes in Vinh City to release carp.

People release carp along Lam River at noon on February 2. Photo: PV

However, it is worth mentioning that the situation of people littering after releasing carp is recurring even though this action has been propagated, reminded, and criticized for many years in the media.

However, garbage is littered along the Lam River. Photo: PV

For example, at Lam River, in Ben Thuy Ward, Vinh City, at noon on February 2, many groups of people came to release carp into the river. After releasing the fish, people threw plastic bags, plastic bags, etc. haphazardly along the riverbank, on tree branches, and tree roots. Many people also brought worship items such as flower vases, incense burners, altars, etc. and threw them everywhere.

Plastic bags filled the tree roots at the fish release point. Photo: PV

In addition to the lack of awareness of a part of the people, according to the reporter's observation, this year, the authorities of Ben Thuy and Hung Dung wards (in charge of urban order along the Lam River) did not arrange trash cans or hang signs instructing and reminding people to release fish. This led to a series of plastic bags floating with the carp...

At Cua Tien bridge area, many people also released fish at noon on February 2, however, people threw away plastic bags right at the release point. Photo: PV

The area of Cua Tien bridge over Vinh river is in a similar situation. This is the place where people in Vinh Tan, Cua Nam, Hong Son wards have released carp for many years. Here, plastic bags after releasing fish are piled up in large piles right on the river bank.

Plastic bags were thrown everywhere, hung on trees at the fish release point. Photo: PV

It is worth mentioning that although there are trash bins in this area that sanitation workers have arranged, the amount of trash put in is very small. People release fish and then “conveniently” throw away plastic bags at the release point, even though the distance from the trash bins is only a few meters.

Meanwhile, there is a trash can just a few meters away from the fish release point, but people do not put trash in it. Photo: PV

Through this, local authorities near rivers, ponds and lakes need to assign functional forces to be on duty, reminding people at fish release points, not to let a long-standing cultural beauty of Vietnamese people become a point of environmental pollution in the near future.

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