According to authorities, over-extraction of underground water sources is one of the main driving forces behind land subsidence and water pollution.

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee recently sent the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment a request to stop approving underground water mining and usage in the city, Tuoi Tre reports.

The committee has also ordered the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to inspect industrial areas, factories and residential homes in order to come up with a plan for stopping groundwater extraction altogether while securing clean water sources for everyone.

The committee acknowledges that there are many areas in Cu Chi District where people don’t have access to clean water, and it is considering using tanker trucks to deliver clean water to these areas in the future.

In March 2018, the People's Committee issued a plan to close groundwater wells and reduce groundwater extraction across the city. However, these efforts do not have specific regulations or penalties against organizations or individuals that are still using groundwater despite having access to tap water.

According to Thanh Nien, there are currently 100,000 groundwater wells in the city, with a total of 700,000 cubic meters of water being extracted every day. City authorities want to lower this number to 100,000 cubic meters per day by 2025.

[Photo via Tuoi Tre]