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Jakarta –
[Gambaran panas di sejumlah wilayah Asia makin ngeri. Selain dilaporkan kasus heatstroke, ratusan ribu ikan mati di Vietnam. Ini antisipasi banyak negara.]
Asia is like being baked by the hot weather. Serious effects of high temperatures were also reported in Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of fish died in reservoirs in Dong Nai province, southern Vietnam.
Reports by local residents and local media suggest a heat wave was the cause. Like much of Southeast Asia as schools were forced to close early and electricity use increased, southern Vietnam was also hit by severe heat.
“All the fish in the Song May reservoir died due to lack of water,” said a local resident in the Trang Bom district, Nghia, to AFP, quoted Thursday (2/5/2024).
“Our lives have been turned upside down for the last 10 days because of the smell.”
Images show residents wading and boating across the 300-hectare Song May reservoir, with the water barely visible beneath a blanket of dead marine life. According to media reports, the area had not even rained for weeks and the water in the reservoir was too low for the creature to survive.
Reservoir managers previously released water to save plants downstream. “They then tried to renovate the reservoir, bringing in a pump to remove the mud so the fish had more space and water,” he said.
However, these efforts were unsuccessful and shortly afterward, many fish died, with local media reports suggesting as many as two hundred tonnes of fish may have been lost. Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that the company responsible for managing the lake had started dredging in early 2024, initially planning to dump additional water into the reservoir for fish.
“But due to the unrelenting heat wave, investors released water downstream, causing the water level to drop. As a result, fish died en masse,” the newspaper reported.
The reservoir is a water source for crops in Trang Bom and Vinh Cuu districts in Dong Nai province. Authorities are investigating the incident while working to remove the dead fish quickly. “We hope the authorities will do their best to improve the situation,” Nghia said.
According to weather forecasters, temperatures in Dong Nai province, 100 km west of Ho Chi Minh City, reached around 40 degrees Celsius in April, breaking the record for the highest temperature recorded in 1998. The soaring temperatures also had an impact on neighboring Cambodia, where temperatures the highest can reach 43 degrees Celsius.
On Wednesday (1/5) Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet ordered schools to close temporarily to protect teachers and students from the heat and alerted officials in case of water shortages. This follows an order from the Minister of Education on Tuesday ordering companies to shorten morning classes and postpone afternoon classes in a bid to avoid the worst of the heat during the day.
Hang Chuon Naron said these measures were to prevent risks and avoid diseases that could harm the health of students and teachers. Meanwhile, in Thailand, electricity use soared to a new record on Tuesday as temperatures in the northeastern province of Udon Thani hit 44 degrees Celsius.
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(naf/kna)
