Hà Nội – People in Hà Nội are suffering the twin pains of hot weather along with water shortages in many areas.

Water has been cut off in several residential buildings in Thanh Xuân and Hà Đông districts such as Văn Quán Residential Area, 103 Hospital’s Buildings, Xuân Mai River Residential Area and Mulberry Residential Area, reported Lao Động (Labour) newspaper.

People in Xuân Mai River Residential Area in Hà Đông had to go without water for several days. The reason was that a wastewater pipe broke, causing the wastewater to flow into the clean water tanks.

This forced residents to depend on water carried from other places by the buildings’ developers.

Suffering the same situation, the lives of more than 1,000 people in two buildings of Văn Quán Residential Area in Thanh Xuân District were difficult due to a sudden water cut-off, the paper said.

“Although the people had no water for three days, the Hà Đông Water Supply Company did not give any notice about it”, said Lê Tuấn Anh, head of the building’s management board.

“The sudden water cut off made the lives of people, especially old people and children, inconvenient and difficult”, he said.

Living without water for many days, several households had to temporarily move to their relatives or friends.

“In the summer’s heat, we could not live without water. Every day all my family had to take bath in a relative’s house in Mỹ Đình District, about 10km from my home”, said Hoa Thị Mận, a resident.

Other families who did not have relatives in Hà Nội had to ask for water in neighbouring areas.

“We had to ask for buckers of water from neighbouring areas and save every drop”, said Hà Thị Huế, a resident.

“Life was miserable due to water cut off in hot weather. How could this happen in a modern residential area in a capital city?” she said.

Avoiding responsibilities

People are suffering without water for many days but water supply companies are avoiding responsibility.

“Water cuts were not announced so the reserve tanks of the buildings ran out of water and the pumps blew out because they were set to automatic mode”, said Lê Tuấn Anh, head of building management board of Văn Quán Residential Area’s buildings.

Meanwhile, the Hà Đông Water Supply Company, which is responsible for supplying water to the buildings’ residents, said that they did announce the water cut-off to Phúc La Ward authorities.

Besides, the Đà River – Hà Nội water pipe breakdown reduced water supply to the residents, said the company’s representative.

Disagreeing with this, Anh said that the residents had signed water supply contracts with the company, so when an incident happened, the company must inform the residents – its clients.

“They informed the local authority but ignored their clients. Obviously, they were avoiding their responsibility”, said Anh.

Many residents said that the water supply companies were unco-operative whenever they asked about water cut-off.

As usual, residents in several areas of Hà Nội have warned the possibility of water shortage in summer.

The demand for water typically increases from 10 to 15 per cent during prolonged hot weather.

One of the reasons for the shortage of water is that groundwater resources are diminishing in recent years. – VNS