Vam Co Dong River is polluted again: Water is black as ink, fish float dead

The water on the Vam Co Dong River, passing the ferry terminal across the Go Noi - An Binh River, turned black and gave off a foul smell.

River water is heavily polluted

Over the past two days, the water source on the Vam Co Dong River, passing through the ferry terminal across the Go Noi - An Binh River (the border area between Ninh Dien and An Binh communes in Chau Thanh district), suddenly turned black, emitting a strong stench. Many aquatic species could not stand the polluted water source so they continuously floated to the surface, many of which died because they could not stand the polluted water.

Mr. Bui Van Quoc, residing in Thanh Binh hamlet, An Binh commune, said that the water on the Vam Co Dong river has been turning black for more than 3 days now, initially the water changed from murky brown to dark brown and then to pitch black as it is now. At the same time, in the canals, many types of fish floated their heads and bit their claws continuously like in 2024.

Fish in the canal along the Vam Co Dong river died.

According to Mr. Quoc, his family is currently cultivating nearly 5 hectares of rice along the river in Go Noi hamlet, Ninh Dien commune. Every day, he has to cross this section of the river to visit and take care of the rice. In addition to the dense appearance of water hyacinth, making travel difficult, the seriously polluted water source in the river makes him very worried, not daring to pump it into the rice fields for fear of killing the plants.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa, a fisherman who specializes in catching seafood on the Vam Co Dong River, said that currently, the river water is pitch black, fish and some types of seafood are gathered in the canals, floating headfirst, biting continuously. Many people saw this and immediately brought nets to catch, some only a few kilos, some a few dozen, even hundreds of kilos. Most of them bring them to the market to sell, almost no one dares to process them into food.

According to Mr. Hoa, the water pollution of the Vam Co Dong River happens almost every year, and many aquatic animals in the river are poisoned, causing many deaths. His family also raises a raft of about 40 square meters of fish, mainly wild fish, which are released after being caught when they are still small. However, a few days ago, when he heard that the water in the river near Ben Soi Bridge was polluted, he quickly sold all the fish he was raising to avoid losses.

Wild fish in the river continuously bite their claws because of polluted water.

Many people living along the river in Go Noi hamlet, Ninh Dien commune expressed their confusion, saying that the black water and strong odor have affected their family's health, many elderly people and children have respiratory diseases such as cough, runny nose, headache, etc. If this situation continues, the possibility of polluted water seeping into groundwater, potentially causing many diseases related to cancer.

According to the writer's observations on the morning of May 8, the section of the Vam Co Dong River passing through the ferry terminal across Go Noi - An Binh showed that the river water was pitch black, emitting a strong foul odor. In a nearby canal section, there were many fish floating with their heads biting their claws, some of them were dead, their bodies floating on the water surface, just as people reported.

People disagree with the cause of pollution

On May 3, 2025, Tay Ninh Newspaper published an article reflecting the pollution of the water in the Vam Co Dong River section passing Ben Soi Bridge, including information about the source of pollution being water seepage from decomposing water hyacinth at Huynh Vuong Wharf (water hyacinth gathering area of Thanh Thanh Cong Agricultural Development Joint Stock Company, the unit contracted with the Department of Construction to treat water hyacinth) flowing into the river, causing environmental pollution.

After the article was published, many people said that the pollution of the Vam Co Dong River for a stretch of several dozen kilometers, from Chau Thanh district to Go Dau district, was due to the decomposition of water hyacinth, which is not convincing.

Mr. K, residing in Truong An hamlet, Truong Dong commune, Hoa Thanh town, said that every day he passes by Huynh Vuong wharf. Although there is a foul smell coming from the water hyacinth gathering area, he does not agree with the conclusion that water from here pollutes the river water, because the amount of water hyacinth at Huynh Vuong wharf is only enough to pollute a short section, it cannot turn dozens of kilometers of river water black.

According to Mr. K, the authorities' request that the water hyacinth treatment unit immediately transport the amount of water hyacinth after salvage is completely correct, because letting the decomposed water flow back into the river is not advisable, no matter how little or how much.

The river water is black as ink.

Mr. VVT, a fisherman who specializes in catching aquatic products on the Vam Co Dong River, said that the Huynh Vuong wharf area is located in Truong Dong Commune, Hoa Thanh Town. If water from water hyacinth decomposition causes environmental pollution, it will only pollute the downstream area of the river, that is, the section from Huynh Vuong wharf to Ben Dinh Bridge. Meanwhile, the Ben Soi Bridge area located upstream, dozens of kilometers away from Huynh Vuong wharf, is still polluted. Therefore, Mr. VVT suggested that the authorities need to intervene and investigate other sources of waste that can pollute the river water source, including agricultural processing factories located near the Vam Co Dong River basin.

Mr. Huynh Long Dinh - Deputy Director of Thanh Thanh Cong Agricultural Development Joint Stock Company said that after the inspection team of the Department of Agriculture and Environment inspected and took water samples at Huynh Vuong wharf, the unit temporarily stopped collecting water hyacinth gathered here, and at the same time transported the existing water hyacinth to another place, no longer having the backlog situation as before.

The water of the Dong Nai River is pitch black.

According to Mr. Dinh, Thanh Thanh Cong Agricultural Development Joint Stock Company has been handling water hyacinth on the Vam Co Dong River under a contract with the Department of Construction (formerly the Department of Transport) since the end of 2022. The work of salvaging and handling water hyacinth is carried out by the unit all year round, without any breaks, with more machinery and equipment than the signed contract. Sometimes, the unit even has to let workers work overtime to continuously salvage up to 16 hours/day. Therefore, he hopes that the provincial authorities will soon find the cause of the pollution of the water source of the Vam Co Dong River, creating conditions for the enterprise to carry out water hyacinth handling work according to the signed contract, contributing to ensuring that the waterway on the Vam Co Dong River is clear and convenient for vehicles to circulate.

In recent days, Tay Ninh Newspaper has continuously received complaints from people about the pollution of many sections of the Vam Co Dong River, such as the section across Ben Dinh Bridge, Vam Bao Canal, Truong Tay Communal House, Ben Soi Bridge, and most recently, the section across the ferry terminal across the Go Noi - An Binh River.

It is worth mentioning that the water pollution of the Vam Co Dong River happens almost every year. The Vam Co Dong River with its “unchanging blue water” that was featured in poetry during the years of the resistance war against the US to save the country has been and is being destroyed due to environmental pollution.

Good Virtue

Source: https://baotayninh.vn/song-vam-co-dong-lai-o-nhiem-nuoc-den-nhu-muc-ca-noi-dau-chet-a189851.html