KHÁNH HÒA – The Department of Natural Resources and Environment of central Khánh Hòa Province has affirmed that the department will inspect the discharge of waste water into Đồng Láng Dam.

The dam runs through Cái River to Nha Trang Bay, one of Việt Nam’s most well-known tourism sites.

Department director Võ Tấn Thái said violators found to be illegally discharging waste water into the dam will be seriously discouraged.

The move follows locals’ complaints about the black smelly waste water in Đồng Láng Dam. The water was discharged into Nha Trang Bay through Cái River, causing pollution in the bay.

Lê Văn Mỹ, chairman of Vĩnh Ngọc Commune’s People’s Committee, said the canal connecting Đồng Láng Dam and Cái River was running through the two villages of Hòn Nghệ 2 and Xuân Ngọc.

According to Mỹ, there were two kinds of waste water - domestic waste water of the locals and yellowish muddy waste water from the I-Resort tourism site.

The domestic waste water of the locals was black and had a horrible smell since it had collected over a long period. The yellowish water was from the mud-bathing activities of the resort, he said.

However, Mỹ admitted he had no idea whether the yellowish muddy water was being treated before being discharged into the river.

In response, Phạm Văn Hùng, manager at the I-Resort Tourism Site, said the muddy waste water was from ongoing construction work at the resort. He also denied that the black smelly water was from the resort.

A report from Nha Trang Oceanography Institute on the supervision of Nha Trang Bay’s environment this year showed that the density of coliform and vibrio bacteria in Nha Trang Bay has increased eight and 144 times, respectively, compared with last year.

Coliform bacteria was measured to be 930 per 100ml, while the standard of clean water was 50 per 100ml.

Nha Trang Bay, among the 29 best bays in the world, is some 500sq.km with 19 islands.

The marine environment in Nha Trang Bay is diversified with some 350 species of coral and 230 species of fish. The first marine centre of its kind in Việt Nam was established at the Hon Mun island territories of Nha Trang Bay. – VNS