Urgently handle river basin pollution: Ministries, localities "join hands" to take action

The above plan specifies the tasks for the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, and the contents of coordination with ministries, branches and People's Committees of provinces and cities, thereby "joining hands" to act and solve the urgent problem of environmental pollution in river basins in the coming time.

Pilot project to improve and restore degraded water resources

Accordingly, the plan focuses on 11 specific contents.

Firstly, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will guide localities to compile statistics and classify waste sources in the area that impact water quality in river basins, make a list (by type and scale of discharge) for strict control and send the list of waste sources to the ministry for synthesis.

Along with that, it is necessary to compile a list of waste sources with a wastewater discharge volume of 200 m3/day and night or more into river basins that need to be strictly controlled; build and effectively operate a shared database on waste sources and water quality; assign responsibilities to strictly control waste sources; and publish information on waste sources, waste volume and water quality.

Second, relevant units of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will organize inspections and examinations of facilities licensed by the Ministry on river basins; synthesize the results of inspections and examinations on river basins and report to the Prime Minister.

Third is to review and complete the monitoring network in river basins to monitor changes in water quality, identify polluted areas and propose treatment solutions; review the network of monitoring stations (automatic and continuous); propose additional measures to monitor changes in water quality, identify polluted areas and propose treatment measures and solutions.

Fourthly, assess the level of impact from agricultural production activities on the water environment in river basins; develop and adjust the operating procedures of the Bac Hung Hai irrigation system in a synchronous manner, ensuring the maintenance of a continuous minimum flow in the system, to be completed before June 30, 2025.

The fifth content is to develop a draft plan for water quality management for river basins and submit to the Prime Minister for promulgation plans for water quality management for river basins that play an important role in socio-economic development.

Next is to develop a draft project to establish a river basin organization to coordinate and supervise the management, use of resources and protection of the water environment according to legal regulations, and submit it to the Prime Minister for consideration.

Seventh, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment plans to develop three pilot projects to improve and restore degraded, depleted, and polluted water sources in the Nhue - Day River, Cau River, and the Bac Hung Hai irrigation system, and submit them to the Prime Minister for consideration and promulgation.

The eighth content is that the ministry will review, guide, direct, and organize the implementation of scientific and technological solutions, models of sustainable agricultural cultivation, aquaculture, and agricultural product processing, rational use of resources, reuse of wastewater, and prevent pollution of river basins; research and apply scientific and technological solutions in monitoring changes in water environment quality.

Criminal prosecution for serious pollution acts

Ninth, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will coordinate with ministries to implement Directive No. 02/CT-TTg.

Specifically, coordinate with the Ministry of Construction (in charge), the Ministry of Finance and localities to review wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure in all urban areas from type V and above; coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to review the status and operational efficiency of industrial clusters, focusing on investment in environmental protection infrastructure, building a centralized wastewater collection and treatment system.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will also closely coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security to strictly handle and publicize a number of typical cases of deliberate procrastination and non-compliance with environmental protection laws in river basins; consider criminal prosecution for acts of intentional discharge causing serious pollution.

Tenth, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will coordinate with localities to guide, inspect and urge localities to implement measures to control large sources of waste; promptly notify relevant agencies and units to regulate water replenishment activities and create sources to increase the self-cleaning capacity of rivers in cases of low water levels and poor flow.

On that basis, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will synthesize information, report implementation results from ministries, branches, and localities, and draft a report assessing the implementation of the Directive to send to the Prime Minister for timely handling./.

According to VNA

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/cap-bach-xu-ly-o-nhiem-luu-vuc-song-bo-nganh-dia-phuong-bat-tay-hanh-dong-245359.htm