A blistering heat wave has hit Hanoi and northern and central provincesin recent days, leaving streets deserted and air conditioners on fullblast.
At night, many families tour the streets on their motorbikes to keep cool. Many carry two or three children and the family dog.
The temperature in the capital soared above 40 degrees Celsius, the highest officially recorded on May 23.
Innorthern and central provinces , the mercury leapt to between 36and 39 degree, according to the National Centre for Hydro-MeteorologicalForecasting.
In Quy Hop and Tay Hieu in central Nghe An Province, the temperature also reached more than 40 degrees.
The heat wave was weaker in Hanoi and the north on May 24, but no relief is expected until May 26.
NguyenDuc Hoa, deputy head of the centre's Medium and Long-termMeteorological Forecasting Office told Dan Viet (Vietnamese People)online newspaper that high temperatures and heat waves would last untilJuly.
He agreed that this year, the heat waves seem to last longer than in previous years.
Normally, a heat wave would last three to five days, weaken over the next few days, and then return.
However, the first heat wave this month began on May 9 and was quickly followed by two more.
He warned that temperatures of more than 42 degrees could hit Hanoi during summer.
Ministerof Construction Trinh Dinh Dung has urged relevant authorities to takeall possible measures to supply adequate levels of fresh tap water tocity people, particularly on days of extreme heat.
At themeeting with the municipal construction department and the water supplycompany Vinaconex on May 22, Dung asked relevant authorities to work onmethods to distribute water to the whole city and resolve technicalissues, problems that have led to water shortages in some areas acrossthe city.
"Ensuring that no households are without water is the most urgent task", he said.
Currently,there are 18 water plants in the city. Vinaconex Clean Water JSCsupplies 30 percent of the city's total water demand.
Inthe past several days, people in many districts have suffereddehydration with temperatures reaching up to 39 degrees Celsius.
InThanh Xuan District, people in Khuong Trung, Khuong Dinh and Khuong Hawards have been forced to buy clean water at high cost.
LeVan Huynh, a resident in Khuong Dinh Ward, said water supplies startedto dry up last week. It took Huynh four hours using a pump to fill uphis 1-cubic-metre tank.
Many households have had to pump water from wells, but even then the water has been dirty and in limited portions, he said.
Some areas in the Tay Ho, Hoang Mai and Ha Dong districts are in the same situation.
Directorof the municipal Department of Construction Le Van Duc said the watershortage on hot days had been caused by a spike in the demand for waterby city residents, power cuts, and the degradation of underground watersources due to over-exploitation.
Duc said water supplies would be difficult to guarantee if the water pipeline from the Da River to Hanoi kept breaking.
Thewater has ruptured on five separate occasions since it was put intooperation in 1997, leaving thousands of households in the city withoutfresh water for days.
Nguyen Van Ton, CEO of the VinaconexClean Water JSC said that there was about 80,000 cubic metres of unusedwater left in the Da River, but substandard water pipes had made itinaccessible to households in need of fresh water.
Constantbreakages and leaks was out of the company's control, he said, addingthat the best way to resolve the problem had been to replace it withanother pipeline system built with better materials.
Theconstruction of 29km long pipeline from the Belt Road 3 to Hoa LacT-Junction would supply more 80,000 cubic metres to the city. However,the investment capital of about 1.1 trillion VND (52.3 million US$) was abig problem to the company. The company has proposed the city authorityto get loans with favourable interest rate of 5-6 percent per year, hesaid.
The construction of the Da River Water Plant, now inits second phase, was also a key measure to curb the current watershortage.
Minister Dung also asked authorities to mobiliseadditional water container trucks to areas in need of fresh water. Healso instructed the department to invest more money in speeding up theconstruction of the water plant.-VNA
At night, many families tour the streets on their motorbikes to keep cool. Many carry two or three children and the family dog.
The temperature in the capital soared above 40 degrees Celsius, the highest officially recorded on May 23.
Innorthern and central provinces , the mercury leapt to between 36and 39 degree, according to the National Centre for Hydro-MeteorologicalForecasting.
In Quy Hop and Tay Hieu in central Nghe An Province, the temperature also reached more than 40 degrees.
The heat wave was weaker in Hanoi and the north on May 24, but no relief is expected until May 26.
NguyenDuc Hoa, deputy head of the centre's Medium and Long-termMeteorological Forecasting Office told Dan Viet (Vietnamese People)online newspaper that high temperatures and heat waves would last untilJuly.
He agreed that this year, the heat waves seem to last longer than in previous years.
Normally, a heat wave would last three to five days, weaken over the next few days, and then return.
However, the first heat wave this month began on May 9 and was quickly followed by two more.
He warned that temperatures of more than 42 degrees could hit Hanoi during summer.
Ministerof Construction Trinh Dinh Dung has urged relevant authorities to takeall possible measures to supply adequate levels of fresh tap water tocity people, particularly on days of extreme heat.
At themeeting with the municipal construction department and the water supplycompany Vinaconex on May 22, Dung asked relevant authorities to work onmethods to distribute water to the whole city and resolve technicalissues, problems that have led to water shortages in some areas acrossthe city.
"Ensuring that no households are without water is the most urgent task", he said.
Currently,there are 18 water plants in the city. Vinaconex Clean Water JSCsupplies 30 percent of the city's total water demand.
Inthe past several days, people in many districts have suffereddehydration with temperatures reaching up to 39 degrees Celsius.
InThanh Xuan District, people in Khuong Trung, Khuong Dinh and Khuong Hawards have been forced to buy clean water at high cost.
LeVan Huynh, a resident in Khuong Dinh Ward, said water supplies startedto dry up last week. It took Huynh four hours using a pump to fill uphis 1-cubic-metre tank.
Many households have had to pump water from wells, but even then the water has been dirty and in limited portions, he said.
Some areas in the Tay Ho, Hoang Mai and Ha Dong districts are in the same situation.
Directorof the municipal Department of Construction Le Van Duc said the watershortage on hot days had been caused by a spike in the demand for waterby city residents, power cuts, and the degradation of underground watersources due to over-exploitation.
Duc said water supplies would be difficult to guarantee if the water pipeline from the Da River to Hanoi kept breaking.
Thewater has ruptured on five separate occasions since it was put intooperation in 1997, leaving thousands of households in the city withoutfresh water for days.
Nguyen Van Ton, CEO of the VinaconexClean Water JSC said that there was about 80,000 cubic metres of unusedwater left in the Da River, but substandard water pipes had made itinaccessible to households in need of fresh water.
Constantbreakages and leaks was out of the company's control, he said, addingthat the best way to resolve the problem had been to replace it withanother pipeline system built with better materials.
Theconstruction of 29km long pipeline from the Belt Road 3 to Hoa LacT-Junction would supply more 80,000 cubic metres to the city. However,the investment capital of about 1.1 trillion VND (52.3 million US$) was abig problem to the company. The company has proposed the city authorityto get loans with favourable interest rate of 5-6 percent per year, hesaid.
The construction of the Da River Water Plant, now inits second phase, was also a key measure to curb the current watershortage.
Minister Dung also asked authorities to mobiliseadditional water container trucks to areas in need of fresh water. Healso instructed the department to invest more money in speeding up theconstruction of the water plant.-VNA
