Urgent treatment of river basin pollution

(PLVN) - For many years, Vietnam has been facing great pressure from environmental degradation, of which water pollution in river basins is the most serious and persistent problem. Recently, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Do Duc Duy signed and issued an urgent plan to strengthen the control and treatment of water pollution in a number of river basins.

The painful situation of waste discharge threatens water security

Water security plays a key role in sustainable development, political stability and national sovereignty. Recognizing this, the Politburo issued Conclusion No. 36-KL/TW dated June 23, 2022, identifying key objectives such as ensuring the quantity and quality of water for people's lives in all situations; meeting the water needs for production and business of all sectors and fields, especially important and essential economic sectors; all people and all subjects have access to and use water fairly and reasonably.

Important solutions include proactively and effectively responding to water-related disasters and natural disasters, adapting to climate change; protecting the environment, and overcoming water resource degradation, depletion, and pollution.

Notably, the issue of protecting the environment of river basins has always been identified as one of the key tasks in state management of environmental protection. This is not only the responsibility of the Agriculture and Environment sector but also the common responsibility of the whole community.

The river basin pollution situation in recent years has received deep attention from all levels, sectors and public opinion. The Party, National Assembly and Government have given strong directions and implemented synchronous solutions at both central and local levels to solve this problem.

Many statistical reports have specifically identified the main sources of waste that negatively impact the water quality of river basins. The first is domestic wastewater from urban and rural residential areas. It is estimated that the whole country has about 7,680,000m³/day and night of domestic wastewater generated from urban areas of type IV and above.

However, it is worrying that the number of centralized urban wastewater treatment plants in operation is still small, the total capacity does not meet the reality; the average rate of wastewater collected and treated nationwide is only about 12.5%.

The second largest source of waste is wastewater from industrial clusters. Currently, the country has about 698 industrial clusters in operation, but it is worth pondering that only 16.8% of them have wastewater treatment systems.

The third major source is wastewater from craft villages. Although there are no complete statistics on the amount of wastewater generated and the current status of treatment nationwide, actual inspections show that very few craft villages have wastewater collection and treatment systems that meet environmental protection requirements.

Criminal prosecution of serious pollution acts

Currently, the management and protection of water environment in river basins are being implemented within the framework of three specialized laws: the 2012 Law on Water Resources, the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection and the 2017 Law on Irrigation, along with a system of sub-law documents and related regulations.

However, in reality, the implementation process still has many shortcomings. In particular, sanctions for violations in this field still lack deterrence and are not strong enough to prevent and effectively handle discharges that pollute the water environment.

Recently, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Do Duc Duy signed Decision No. 746/QD-BNNMT dated April 11, 2025, promulgating the Plan to implement Directive No. 02/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on urgent solutions to strengthen the control and treatment of water pollution in some river basins.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has specified the requirements and directions of the Prime Minister on urgent control and treatment of river basin pollution, especially in the Cau River basin, Nhue - Day River basin, Dong Nai River basin and Bac Hung Hai irrigation system.

The plan includes 11 specific action groups, from reviewing and publishing the list of discharge sources into river basins according to regulations to organizing specialized inspections and examinations on compliance with environmental protection laws for facilities licensed by the Ministry of Environment and handling violations according to regulations.

Notably, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will closely coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security to strictly handle and publicize a number of typical cases of deliberate procrastination and non-compliance with environmental protection laws in river basins, creating a deterrent effect in businesses, and consider criminal prosecution for acts of intentional discharge causing serious pollution.

Do Trang

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/cap-bach-xu-ly-o-nhiem-luu-vuc-song-post545620.html