Hanoi (VNA) - Some 5,000 craft villages across the country have beenseriously polluting the environment and threatening the health of residents insurrounding areas.

According to data issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,only 4.1 percent of craft villages use wastewater treatment systems.

In Hanoi alone, 1,350 craft villages discharge up to 156,000 cubic metres ofwastewater directly into the environment each day.

For example, four craft villages of Duong Lieu, Cat Que, Minh Khai, and Son Dongin Hoai Duc district were found to be releasing about 8,200 cubic metres ofwastewater into the environment daily.

Nguyen Thi Hien, a resident living in Duong Lieu commune said she and otherresidents had to suffer bad smells from craft villages’ wastewater, especiallyduring hot weather.

“It’s terrible,” she said.

Some craft villages processing farm produce in the districts of Thanh Oai and BacTu Liem also discharge about 7,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day.

In Hai Duong province - home to 66 craft villages, wastewater produced by thePhu Loc wine craft village and the Tong Buong rice-paper craft village waspumped directly into the province’s canals.

As a result, statistics from the provincial Natural Resources and EnvironmentDepartment showed that the concentration of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) - theamount of oxygen needed in water, was 12-15 times higher than permitted, theconcentration of total suspended solids (TSS) was 2-3 times higher thanpermitted, and the concentration of ammonia was 12-16 times higher thanpermitted.

Ngo Duy Hieu, deputy head of Hanoi’s National Assembly delegation, saidauthorised agencies have failed to deal with violations related to craftvillage pollution. Therefore, they were partly blamed for the ongoing problems.

Poor cooperation between local residents and authorised agencies in discoveringand handling violations also exacerbated the situation, he said.

Additionally, funds for reversing the pollution as well as raising awarenessamong village workers of the protection of water resources were still limited,he added.

In the short-term, Hanoi has piloted a model to build centralised wastewatertreatment systems in craft villages in districts of Chuong My, Hoai Duc and QuocOai.

Tran Thi Phuong Hoa, chairwoman of Hanoi Women’s Union said city administrationshould conduct assessments of the effectiveness of this model.

It was also advised to make a list of craft villages that were heavy polluters,and then allocate funds to fix the problem soon, she said.

Nguyen Ngoc Thuan, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Gia Lam district,where Bat Trang Craft Village is located, suggested authorised agenciesstrengthen punishments to bring the situation under control.

In the long-term, Hanoi’s administration has approved a project, worth 1.35trillion VND (59.4 million USD) in an attempt to end pollution caused by 1,350craft villages in the city by 2030.

In the meantime, Hai Duong administration has consulted experts and relevantagencies to come up with solutions.

Senior water expert Dao Trong Tu said at first authorities should focus oneducating people about the importance of water resources.

“So that public awareness of water resources protection will be improved soon,”he said.

Tu also asked policymakers to issue policies that encourage private enterprisesto invest in wastewater treatment systems as a potential solution for thesituation.-VNA