Mekong Delta’s reservoir of abundance runs dry
Arguably Vietnam’s most fertile region, feted for long as the nation’s granary, the Mekong Delta is now a ghost of its former self.
Perhaps nowhere is this more evident, literally and symbolically, than at the region’s largest reservoir, Kenh Lap, in Ben Tre Province.
The reservoir, which has a capacity of more than one million cubic meters of water, is virtually bone dry.
After a long drought, the once vast body of water is now a piece of parched land with a few puddles, dead lotus bunches and fishing boats and nets lying motionless on its bed. Birds walk about, looking for food and water pumps stand idle on its banks.
In the immediate vicinity, harvested rice fields stand barren, exposing cracked earth. Vegetable gardens are left untouched with withered grass and weeds.
Hoang Nam
