Aside from efforts made by local authorities to cope with a shortfall of fresh water caused by saline intrusion and prolonged drought in Tien Giang Province, southern Vietnam, generous donors from many parts of the country have sent a host of tank trucks carrying fresh water to deprived areas.

As one of the beneficiaries of the water donation, Nguyen Van Hai, residing in Gia Thuan Commune, Tan Phu Dong District, could not hide his happiness when receiving two 30-liter plastic cans from donors from neighboring Can Tho City and fresh water from other charity groups.

The 50-year-old man elaborated that his household stood as an early casualty of the recent freshwater crisis gripping his community.

As the availability of tap water dwindled, his family found themselves grappling with a scant supply, relying solely on a handful of water containers to meet their daily needs.

In other affected communes like Tan Phuoc, Gia Thuan, Tan Dien, and Tan Thanh in Go Cong Dong District, local residents were offered fresh water for free by the state-run Tien Giang Water Supply Company and dozens of donors and charity organizations from other provinces.

An official in Go Cong Dong revealed that the district had called on donors to provide its residents with thousands of cubic meters of fresh water.

Also, authorities dispatched young volunteers to distribute fresh water to the houses of disadvantaged people.

By adopting many ways to cope with the shortage, the district has managed to supply an adequate volume of fresh water to deprived areas, the official said.

Nguyen Thi Yen Phuong, CEO at Dai Phuoc Thanh Construction and Trading Company, said that her company has donated more than 5,400 cubic meters of fresh water to districts hit by saline intrusion in the eastern part of Tien Giang so far.

This is not the first time that Dai Phuoc Thanh Company has given back to the community. In 2020, the company sent dozens of tank trucks to this Mekong Delta province to offer gratis fresh water to residents affected by saline intrusion.

This year, her company will maintain this meaningful practice until the end of April, Phuong added.

Besides Tien Giang, lots of organizations including major universities in Ho Chi Minh City and military units recently provided valuable support for other drought-stricken provinces in the Mekong Delta.

On April 8, three military vessels under the Military Region 9 transported more than 1,700 cubic meters of fresh water and hundreds of water containers to Ca Mau Province, where over 2,600 local households are facing scarcity of fresh water due to a prolonged drought.

A few days later, the High Command of Coast Guard Region 4 under the Vietnam Coast Guard detached a vessel to transport over 350,000 liters of fresh water to Hon Chuoi Island off Ca Mau, the southernmost province in the country.

On April 14, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Thi Phuong Lan, president of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City, led a USSH team to send 180 cubic meters of fresh water to several affected areas in Long An Province.

Prolonged droughts resulted in landslides and land subsidence in the buffer zone of U Minh Thuong District in Kien Giang Province, prompting local authorities to declare a state of emergency on April 10.

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