Hot weather, small alley residents suffer even more

Suffocating alley

Bac Lieu City has many small alleys, only about 0.7 - 1.5m wide, with the passage just wide enough for a motorbike to pass through, concentrated on Vo Thi Sau Street (Ward 3, Ward 7 and Ward 8), Tran Phu Street (Ward 7), Hoa Binh Street, Cach Mang Street (Ward 1), Cao Van Lau Street, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street (Ward 5)...

In the small, narrow alleys, there are many super small houses of only a few dozen square meters, the houses are built without any pattern, some houses are extra and encroach on the road area, making the already small alleys even smaller. Some small alleys have many fishbone roads connecting them, intertwined and intricate like a chessboard. There are some deep alleys that once you enter, you cannot turn around, the only way is to... back out. Living in those small alleys, countless inconveniences have made the quality of life worse due to the lack of sunlight and fresh air.

Nestled between rows of high-rise townhouses, alley 7 (Hamlet 5, Ward 7) with a width of about 1 - 1.5m has nearly 40 households living, most of the houses in the alley are quite small, many are only about 50 - ^60m2 . Despite the small space, there are still many old families living together from 2 - 3 generations. Mr. Ly Can (60 years old) shared: "My family consists of 5 people - 3 generations, crowded together in a ^50m2 house. The house is damp and narrow, so the air is always stuffy, especially on hot sunny days, staying inside the house feels like a sauna". Mr. Can's house is quite old, damp, with a corrugated iron roof, so at noon the hot sun shines directly inside, making the room like a "fire pan". When it gets too hot, his wife, children and some neighbors invite each other to go out in front of the house to chat to forget the heat.

People living in alley 7 (block 5, ward 7) sit in front of the door to catch the wind to reduce the hot temperature in the house. Photo: TQ

Or like the alley branch of Cau Xang alley (Hamlet 10, Ward 1), although narrow and short, there are dozens of households building houses close together. In a house of only ^35m2 , every year, when the dry season comes, Ms. Viet Thuy's family struggles to find ways to fight the heat such as: regularly cleaning the house, opening the door for ventilation, turning on the electric fan, spraying water on the roof... However, due to the narrow area, it is only limited to some extent, the temperature in the house is still very hot and stuffy on hot sunny days.

Many ways to avoid the sun

On hot days, the temperature rises, the sweltering heat surrounds day and night, combined with the narrow area, making the lives of people living in the small alleys very disrupted.

Despite many inconveniences, many people, mainly poor workers who work as motorbike taxi drivers, petty traders, hired laborers, etc., choose small alleys to settle down because the price of land and rent is suitable for their budget. To avoid the sun in a cramped, stuffy space, those who can afford it install air conditioners and water misters, while those with economic difficulties and low incomes install foam pieces and cover the house with tarpaulins to reduce the temperature from the sun shining directly into the house.

In addition, some people choose to work overtime, the elderly find cool places... to avoid the sun. "After 11 o'clock at noon, the heat is unbearable, sometimes I have to buy some ice cubes to put in front of the electric fan to cool the air a bit. The heat makes people always tired, lethargic, lose their appetite, sleep poorly, and family life is disrupted," said Ms. Ngoc Nhi (alley 8, group 4, Ward 7).

People need to pay attention that in hot weather, the body sweats a lot, causing dehydration and electrolyte loss, especially in children, which can easily lead to metabolic disorders. Hot weather makes food and food easily spoiled, easily infected with fungi and bacteria, which causes digestive diseases, especially can increase the risk of stroke - especially in the elderly, people with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure... In addition, it is necessary to pay attention when fighting the heat by turning on a strong fan directly on the body or setting the air conditioner temperature too low, which can easily cause colds, pneumonia...

Minh Luan

Source: https://www.baobaclieu.vn/doi-song-xa-hoi/nang-nong-dan-cu-hem-nho-kho-cang-them-kho-99944.html