A major university in Ho Chi Minh City has supplied 180 cubic meters of fresh water to deprived areas in Long An Province, southern Vietnam, which is among the locales hit by prolonged drought in the region.

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, on Sunday morning headed a USSH team to send fresh water to several affected areas in the province’s Can Duoc and Can Giuoc Districts.

Local authorities then arranged smaller vehicles to deliver the fresh water from tank trucks to remote areas.

Hundreds of residents expressed their delight at getting fresh water at the time they needed it the most, according to Pham Thanh Duy, head of the administrative affairs department at USSH.

The fresh water donation is part of the university’s charity program to help ease water stress in southern localities.

Drought and saltwater intrusion due to climate change have wreaked havoc on Long An and several other provinces in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region since the beginning of the year.

In Long An, close to 5,000 local households, mostly in Can Duoc and Can Giuoc, are suffering fresh water scarcity in the 2024 dry season, according to the Long An Center for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation.

The university’s Saemaul Undong Rural Development Center was well aware of the water shortage in these areas as the center had launched many projects on socio-economic growth there, the USSH president elaborated.

USSH decided to launch the charity program to offer a lending hand to drought-hit residents amid the prolonged heatwave, Lan said.

In the first phase of the program, the university tapped funding contributed by USSH members and units to buy and supply 180 cubic meters of fresh water to the two districts, with 80 cubic meters going to Can Duoc and the rest offered to Can Giuoc.

The Saemaul Undong Rural Development Center is working with other parties and donors to supply additional fresh water to deprived areas, Lan added.

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