Safe and hygienic water source - a foundation for public health

Clean water - environmental protection is a global hot issue. Thus, the 2019 World Water Day is themed “Water for all - Leaving no one behind” by the United Nations to call for attention of the whole world on the preservation and protection of water resources.

As an active member of the United Nations, Vietnam also sets a goal to propagate and encourage social groups' ability to access clean water sources in order to realize the 6^thsustainable development objective of Agenda 2030 of the United Nations. Accordingly, access to safe, hygienic water is the foundation for public health, and is very important for sustainable development.

To protect the environment, improve life quality

Binh Duong has many industrial parks, with a large amount of garbage and wastewater from the production process of enterprises. Being aware of specific and pressing conditions on the local living environment, in recent years, Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and Provincial People's Committee proposed many guidelines, measures, and implemented specific solutions to protect water source, environment. The province's goal is to build Binh Duong into a place with a good living environment, a harmony between economic growth and environmental protection; well combine environmental protection requirements in planning and development projects; improve environmental quality in residential and urban areas; manage and sustainably exploit surface water, underground water, land, and mineral resources; ensure ecological balance and biodiversity; proactive response to climate change.

Youth Union members of localities in the province participate in propagation activities to encourage people to use clean water, protect the environment, improve life quality on occasion of World Water Day (March 22).

Departments, branches, and localities in the province have regularly checked, reviewed, surveyed, collected, and destroyed out-of-date plant protection chemicals, unidentified chemicals, and chemicals were not on the approved list. Besides, units and localities launched environmental protection movement, such as encouraging the treatment of organic waste by biogas digester to solve domestic waste and livestock waste in rural areas to ensure environmental hygiene and water source protection; investing in building a clean water supply system in rural areas... By the end of 2016, the rate of rural households in the province that had clean and hygienic water for domestic use reached 98.5%; the percentage of households using hygienic latrines was96%, the rate of farming facilities having waste treatment was 84%.

Mai Hung Dung, Member of Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of Provincial People's Committee, said that in recent years, Binh Duong province had made significant progress in the state management of water resources and environmental protection. Accordingly, the province always attached special importance to education, raising awareness of environmental protection of all sectors, levels and people, especially young people and students –the future owners of the country. In addition, green - clean - beautiful movements, planting trees, and environmental protection were regularly launched by branches, units and localities in the province; activities to celebrate and respond to the World Water Day, World Environment Day, exams on environment, drawing contests about environmental protection, campaigns to make the world cleaner... are held annually at localities, and have received broad response and enthusiastic participation of people in protecting water resources, protecting the environment, and improving the quality of people's lives.

To set up specific objectives

To implement the objectives of economic development associated with environmental protection and improving people's lives, Provincial People's Committee issued Plan No. 1477 / KH-UBND dated April 12, 2018 to implement the national action plan to implement the 2030 Agenda for the United Nations' sustainable development. Objective No. 6 of the plan is to ensure adequate supply of safe water, sustainable management of water resources and sanitation for all people. This goal also closely follows Objective No. 6 of the UN Agenda 2030.

To accomplish this goal, Provincial People's Committee assigned specific tasks to related departments and agencies, such as: Completing the policy on rural water supply, ensuring for all people have full and fair access to drinking water and running water; studying and transferring clean water treatment technology to the poor and people in extremely difficult areas; promoting socialization of activities of protection, management, development of water supply and rural water supply services... At the same time, the plan also set out tasks of improving water quality, controlling sources of pollution, terminating the use of toxic chemicals in industrial production, agriculture and aquaculture, polluting water sources, reducing biodiversity, and would control 100% of hazardous waste water sources to be treated before discharging into the environment...

In parallel with the above plan development, the province assigned Department of Natural Resources and Environment to organize propagation activities to respond to the World Water Day in the area to raise the community’s awareness of water resource protection and economical use. Accordingly, Department of Natural Resources and Environment implemented a number of outstanding tasks such as: Building Water Resource Planning of Binh Duong province in the period 2016-2025, towards 2035; promulgating the list of restricted areas for underground water exploitation from 2015 and adjusting the list according to the new regulations of the Government; monitoring water resources at 36 projects in the province, building 18 more monitoring projects to expand the scale of monitoring network to better assess the groundwater dynamics serving the state management in the province...

In the coming time, Binh Duong province will continue to consolidate and perfect the specialized state management organization on water resources from the province to the grassroots level; at the same time, to strengthen collaboration with the Fatherland Front, press agencies, radio stations, unions, and associations in renewing the law propagation and dissemination in order to raise people's awareness and responsibility of protect and use efficiently, save water resources. The province will also focus on improving the system of legal documents on water resources to meet management requirements; strengthen the work of inspecting and examining water resource exploitation...

Reported by Ton That Son – Translated by Ngoc Huynh