In response, the committee has asked local authorities to take necessary measures to help people in urgent need. The following story comes from Kon Tum and Gia Lai provinces.
These children are delighted with precious buckets of water after days of drought. The local authorities have begun providing water for people in areas suffering from severe drought in parts of the Central Highlands.
"This amount of water is only enough for drink. We still can’t bathe. Sometimes, water can’t even be brought here." - YPHIA PHYU, Resident, Sa Binh Commune, Sa Thay District, Kon Tum Province.
At a village in Sa Bình Commune, 82 wells have been dug but none of them have found water. The whole of the Central Highlands are now struggling with groundwater shortages.
"We keep digging wells but still haven’t found any water. My family has just dug a 150m deep well but still found nothing. We’re trying our best to save our crops because we invested so much in this area." - PHAM THI HA, Resident, Ya Rong Commune, Chu Puh District, Gia Lai Province.
Thousands of hectares of rice field and industrial crops are facing severe drought while people are being threatened by imminent food shortages and diseases due to water shortages.
"We’re trying our best to ensure no water shortages, there’re no issues to do with food shortages and we remain disease-free. These are urgent tasks and need to be done at the same time. If lower level authorities fail to deal with the situation, we’ll call for support from the government." - VO NGOC THANH, Chairman, Gia Lai Province People’s Committee.
Nearly 34 thousand hectares of forest in the Central Highlands disappear each year and deforestation is said to be a main reason for increasingly severe drought. Reforestation is now being highlighted as a vital long-term solution.
