Viet Nam News
11 May 2015
AU GIANG (VNS) — More than a hundred families living near the Tu Hu 1 Canal in Hau Giang Province are suffering from various diseases caused by its polluted waters, and the owners of two new fish farms are being blamed.
The canal used to be clean and its water could be used for daily activities, said Vo Thi Kim Nam, a resident of Village 8 in the southern province’s Hoa An Commune. However, it has become increasingly polluted after two fish farms were built in the area two years ago, she said.
She squarely blamed the farm’s owners, Tran Thi Giau and Ly Hiep, for discharging untreated wastewater and polluting the canal’s waters.
Nam’s family, as well as the other families in the area, have always depended on the canal’s waters for their daily life.
“The water was clean and we could even use it to cook after filtering,” Nam said.
“Now even if we use the water to have a bath, we get rashes on our skin, especially the kids. I have to boil the water now for them.”