In the past ten years, over 20 lakes have “disappeared” from the map, equivalent to nearly 200 hectares of water surface evaporating.
It took quite a few inquiries, and eventually, we had to rely on a guide. After turning left and right through narrow, pothole-filled alleys, we finally found our way to Van Chuong Lake (located in Van Chuong Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi).
To be honest, if it weren’t for the guidance of a local, I would have surely lost my way, as what lay before me could hardly be called a lake. It resembled a wasteland filled with stagnant wastewater and overgrown weeds. Surrounding this wasteland are high-rise buildings, low-rise homes, modern structures, and makeshift constructions, all seemingly ready to encroach further into the middle of the lake. From these houses, garbage and wastewater flow down, creating a foul smell typical of garbage dumps.
Sister Ha, a local resident, expressed her frustration: “In the past, thousands of youth volunteers from Hanoi spent hundreds of days digging out Van Chuong Lake. I remember back then the water was crystal clear; children needed binoculars to see from one side of the lake to the other. And now, the houses on the other side of the lake have almost become next-door neighbors to us. It’s heartbreaking to think that all that hard work has gone to waste.”
Sharing a similar fate, Huy Van Lake seems slightly luckier as it still retains a small body of water, although the murky water causes more fear than enjoyment. Perhaps it’s because Huy Van Lake is located next to the People’s Committee of Van Chuong Ward that it has managed to survive in this state?
Nearly 80-year-old Grandma Nhung, who sells drinks by the lake, recounts that initially, the houses near the lake filled in the area with soil, hoping to create more space for pig farming. Over time, this space expanded so much that the local authorities turned it into a community market for the village. Consequently, not only household waste but also all the trash from the market was dumped into the lake. This has been happening for the past ten years.
Currently, the market area here has grown to about 300 square meters. This does not include the more than 100 households living around the lake. 100% of these households have been continuously encroaching on land for personal use. Some households have illegally occupied hundreds of square meters. “The waste from this community requires more than one specialized truck to transport it to the collection site, but the garbage in the lake could fill dozens of trucks,” shared a worker from the Urban Environment Company responsible for waste collection around Huy Van Lake.
In a conversation with us, Mr. Ngo Tien Ngoc, Deputy Chairman of the People’s Committee of Van Chuong Ward, stated: Since 2004, after repeated media coverage, the city decided to shore up Huy Van Lake. However, although the decision was made long ago, no one has implemented it. Now, even maintaining the lake’s current state is difficult, let alone reclaiming the encroached land.
Hao Nam Lake has been “reinforced” with sturdy high-rise foundations, while the remaining area has been turned into water spinach fields. This is still fortunate because it can still be referred to as a “lake.” Currently, many lakes have become so obscured that only those who have lived in Hanoi for at least 20 years can remember them. Dai Lake, located near Kim Liên Hotel (Dong Da), is an example. Even now, few know that the site of the skyscraper at the beginning of Pham Ngoc Thach Street used to have a lake.
According to statistics from the authorities, in 1994, central Hanoi still had over 40 lakes with a total area of more than 850 hectares. However, to date, only 19 lakes remain, covering a total area of about 547 hectares. This means that in just a decade, over 20 lakes have “disappeared” from the map, equivalent to nearly 200 hectares of water surface evaporating. As the number of lakes decreases while the population density increases, many areas in Hanoi are suffocating from dust and pollution. Please save the lakes before it’s too late!
Social Affairs Reporting Team – People’s Police Newspaper
