Hanoi has been implementing a five-year plan to provide all peoplein the city’s rural areas access to hygienic water by 2015.

According to Deputy Head of the municipal Department of Agricultureand Rural Development Dao Duy Tan, the plan also sets the target that100 percent of families in the city will have hygienic toilets by 2015.

The 2013-2017 plan has a total budget of 743 billionVND (35.3 million USD, with 640 billion VND sourced by loans from theWorld Bank.

The programme, covering 13 districtswith 77 communes, will be carried out in three phases. Phase one willbuild seven water plants and pipeline systems to supply water for about165,000 people. In phase two, 167 toilets for schools and 22,100sanitation facilities for familie will be built, while phase three willfocus on enhancing working capacity for the water supply andenvironmental hygiene sectors.

Besides, the city hasmobilised various resources to invest in fresh water supply programmesin rural areas, with a total investment of 1,836 billion VND (87.4million USD).

Currently, two thirds of Hanoi’srural population lack fresh water, 15 percent of them do not have accessto clean water.

Water shortage is a problem formany localities in the city, including Chang Son and Thach Xa communesin Thach That district, Hiep Thuan commune in Phuc Tho district, TamHung, Thanh Thuy and Xuan Duong communes in Thanh Oai district, andQuang Phu Cau and Lien Bat communes in Ung Hoa district.-VNA