Pollution threatens Nha Trang Bay

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Pollution gets more serious

There are five sewers through which waste water goes directly to the sea in Nha Trang City, five other sewers to Cai River and another 3 to Quan Truong River. All of these have made the Nha Trang Bay more and more polluted every day.

The visitors to Nha Trang Bay on sunny days would smell the bad odor from the manholes and see the black water stream. These include the sewers near the tourist sites like the Hon Chong area or Thanh Nien Park, thus badly affecting the local landscapes.

Tourists keep complaining about this. “I cannot understand why such a sewer which leads stinking water to the sea can exist in front of a beautiful landscape like Hon Chong?” said Nguyen Tam Danh Thang, a tourist from Hue City.

Nguyen Ngoc Tinh, a resident in Vinh Hai ward, said his family has been suffering from the nearby sewer for the last many years. Black water not only can be seen in the Hon Chong area, but also on Pham Van Dong Street, where there are 3-4 other manholes.

“The pollution has become so serious that the local residents in the city dare not go bathing in the sea any more,” Tinh said. “I sometimes saw foreign tourists collecting rubbish on the Bai Duong – Hon Chong coast.”

The rapid population increase has put a heavy burden on the rivers in the city. Hundreds of temporary houses with no toilet have arisen on the Cai riverbank. All the waste from the temporary houses have been discharged to the river.

According to Nguyen Van Cuong, Chair of the Vinh Phuoc ward, about 180 temporary houses have been existing in the locality. Meanwhile, in the neighboring ward of Huong Xuan, hundreds of street restaurants discharge waste to the Cai River every day.

Local tourism industry suffers

Khanh Hoa province, with the beautiful sea city of Nha Trang, attracts high numbers of tourists every year. According to Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of the Khanh Hoa provincial Tourism Promotion Center, by October 2013, Nha Trang had received 2.5 million travelers, an increase of 26 percent in comparison with the same period of the last year.

However, Thanh fears that the waste water discharge to the sea and the littering would keep tourists away

According to Truong Kinh, Head of the Nha Trang Bay Marine Protected Area’s (MPA) Board of Management, if referring to the sea environment standards, Nha Trang sea is still safe. However, the situation has become worrying.

In the rainy season, Coliform can be found in the north of the Hon Tre Island, even though it is located far from mainland and near the MPA’s core region. The hydrocarbon concentration is relatively high, exceeding the allowed level, thus increasing the risk of the development of harmful algae, the destruction of the habitat for corals and marine microorganisms.

“The advantage of Nha Trang is that there is a sea current close to the coast which can help sweep away dirt and rubbish. However, it is now the time to take actions to protect the sea and prevent bad consequences to the environment,” Kinh said.