VietNamNet Bridge – The pollution of the West Lake--a beautiful landscape of Hanoi, has affected the life of urbanites and become a burning issue. What has made the lake become a rubbish dump?
The West Lake has become seriously polluted partially because of the rapid urbanization process. The urban development has not been associated with the upgrading of the waste treatment. However, the most important thing, according to environmentalists, is the low sense of civic responsibility of protecting the environment.
The domestic and industrial waste is the biggest factor that causes the air and water resource pollution at the West Lake.
Floating restaurants spoil the West Lake
Having meals and admiring the landscape of the West Lake is the favorite habit of many Hanoians. To date, there have been tens of pleasure boats which have been used for business purpose, where tens of restaurants have been built. The ships have been staying mostly in the areas of Thuy Khe, Thanh Nien streets on the surface water of the West Lake and Truc Bach Lake nearby.
Hanoians recently see the surface water of the West Lake turn white because of the fish bodies which died because of the pollution. Local residents said that the oil scum and waste have polluted the lake and killed the fish.
It is the pleasure boats which discharge oil scum to the lake every day. 90 percent of the floating restaurants on the lake do not have waste treatment system. Therefore, rubbish has been discharged directly to the West Lake without any treatment.
The Hanoi Transport Department many times instructed to remove the pleasure boats on the lake. However, new pleasure boats with floating restaurants have been set up just after a short time after the boats were removed, and they continue discharging waste to the West Lake.
The domestic waste
According to the West Lake Company, about 4000 cubic meters of industrial and domestic waste water are discharged to the West Lake every day. Experts have found that the ammoniac concentration of the waste water is higher at 1.5 mg per liter, or three times higher than the allowed level.
Besides the waste from floating restaurants, the West Lake also receives the rubbish from local households. As garbage trucks cannot make their way to small alleys to take back rubbish from households, local residents throw rubbish – plastic bags, food, bamboo stakes - to the lake.
Local residents have many times complained about the serious pollution of the West Lake, saying that they cannot stand the terrible smell from the lake. However, they do not think that the lake has been polluted because of their low sense of civic responsibility.
The golf course
Experts have pointed out that the existence of the golf course has caused the “pollution to the landscape.”
A part of the area of the West Lake has been appropriated by the floating golf course covering an area of thousands of square meters. A large corner of the romantic West Lake has been surrounded by bamboo stakes, flags and nets.
The golf course is located in the campus of the Hanoi Club Hotel, belonging to the Hanoi Club joint venture. The existence of the golf course on the West Lake has been obstructing the water transport, obscures and distorts the landscape of the lake.
Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem, Deputy Chair of the Hanoi Association of the Urban Programming, said that it is necessary to re-discuss with enterprises and ask the enterprises to stop their business, even though the contracts on leasing surface water area are still valid.
The West Lake Environment Enterprise said it has pull up 1900 spontaneous stakes and fish out cubic meters and thousands of cubic meters of rubbish from the lake every year.
Do Thi
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