The clear beauty of the Perfume River

Water fern worries

If I were to vote for the green, clean, and beautiful rivers in Hue , I would only see the Huong River, and many sections of the An Cuu, Ke Van, and Dong Ba rivers. The rest, mostly rural and suburban rivers, are still not green or clean; many sections are flooded with water hyacinth, giving off a foul smell that spoils the beauty and affects the environment.

For example, at this time on the Nhu Y River through Thuy Van Ward (Hue City) or Thuy Thanh Commune (Huong Thuy Town), many sections of water hyacinth have grown, along with garbage covering the river surface. The hot sun and the smell of river water full of water hyacinth and garbage make first-time visitors feel uncomfortable.

On the Dai Giang River, through Phu Luong Commune, adjacent to Phu Da Town (Phu Vang), water hyacinths were floating, covering many sections of the river, making it difficult for fishing boats to catch fish and shrimp. From Phu Thu Bridge, we headed towards Phu Gia and Vinh Ha Communes (Phu Vang). Along this route, many rivers leading water to the fields were covered with water hyacinths, making it impossible to see the water surface. The dense water hyacinth paralyzed the rivers, not only making it difficult to transport goods by water, but also reducing the number of fish and shrimp due to lack of oxygen. More worryingly, if the flood comes and the water hyacinths attack the fields, it will be a misery for the farmers.

Mr. Ho Van Quyet, Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Da town (Phu Vang) said that the reason why water hyacinth appeared on Dai Giang river and canals through the locality is because there is a lot of water hyacinth in the upper reaches of large rivers but it is not salvaged. When the weather changes and the wind turns, the water hyacinth moves to Dai Giang river area through Phu Da area more. "For many years, water hyacinth has been a problem affecting agricultural production in Phu Da. Every year, every season, the local government receives financial support from the province and district to mobilize the whole population to salvage and handle water hyacinth, but it is still not enough" - Mr. Quyet said.

To green the rivers

In recent times, many localities have implemented models and projects or integrated them into environmental protection programs and plans to help many rivers and river sections in localities become clean of trash and duckweed. Moreover, when the "Green Sunday" movement was born, simultaneously responding to World Environment Day and the annual Environmental Protection Action Month, from association officials, authorities, and people participating in not only cleaning village roads to be free of trash, but also clearing canals and ditches in the area, and the problem of duckweed on the river was also salvaged and significantly treated...

Recently, following the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, localities responded to World Environment Day (June 5), so localities simultaneously organized to salvage and treat water hyacinth on rivers, focusing on rivers and areas with a lot of water hyacinth that do not ensure environmental hygiene, affecting waterway traffic, production, and farming of people...

According to the leader of Huong Thuy Town People's Committee, in response to the "Month of action for the environment and World Environment Day 2024" and implementing the Conclusion of the Provincial People's Committee, in the communes and wards: Thuy Thanh, Thuy Duong, Thuy Phu, Thuy Luong, Thuy Tan coordinated with departments, branches, organizations, and functional forces to salvage and treat water fern on rivers, lagoons... combined with the Green Sunday campaign to collect hundreds of tons of fresh water fern. Along with Huong Thuy Town, the work of salvaging and treating water fern was also directed by Huong Tra, Phu Vang, Phu Loc, Quang Dien, Phong Dien districts... to direct communes and wards with rivers and lagoons to salvage water fern, clean up and collect waste in neighboring areas.

A unit trusted by the people, contributing to making the local environment green and clean is Hue Urban Environment and Construction Company (HEPCO). With a commitment to cooperate in services, HEPCO has proactively deployed, divided into shifts according to a fixed schedule 2-3 times/week to salvage and thoroughly treat water hyacinth on rivers in Hue City and suburban areas. Thanks to that, many Hue rivers are increasingly greener.

HEPCO leaders shared: “The unit is committed to handling garbage and water hyacinth in river and lagoon areas. The company only coordinates and supports localities, especially in times of emergency, when facing natural disasters such as floods and storms…”.

In reality, due to difficulties in resources (human resources, funding), the implementation of salvaging and treating duckweed and waste on rivers has not brought high efficiency, and has not created a large and regular movement in the community. Most localities only act spontaneously, as well as waiting for support and initiation from relevant departments and agencies at higher levels.

According to experts, to make Hue rivers increasingly greener, the organization of "Green Sunday" must be on a large scale, not just a movement. Each time it is launched, it is necessary to calculate the salvage and thorough treatment of duckweed. Moreover, to have more "beautiful green rivers" every day, free of trash and clean of duckweed, it is necessary to invest in many different resources. The implementation process should consult with more experts and specialized scientists; do not spread it out but invest in each section and each route. After that, there will be an assessment, experience, replication of the model and assignment to the village, residential group, and locality where the river passes through to manage, commit to maintaining a cleaner and more beautiful river...

Article and photos: SONG MINH