A severe heatwave has created a dire situation across Southeast Asia. Millions of fish have died in a reservoir in Vietnam’s Dong Nai province amid this heat wave. Local residents and the media say extreme heat and mismanagement of reservoirs are responsible for the deaths of millions of fish.
Most of Southeast Asian countries have been forced to declare school closures due to intense heatwaves. Countries in the region have seen an increase in electricity consumption. Like these countries, the southern and central parts of Vietnam are also burning with devastating heat.

In an interview given to the French news agency AFP, Nghia, a native of the country’s Trang Bom district, said that all the fish in the Song Mae reservoir had died due to the intense heat and lack of water. For the past 10 days our lives have been ruined by the smell.
The pictures show local residents boating around the 300-hectare Song Mae Reservoir; Where water can be seen under a heavy layer of dead fish.

According to local media reports, there has been no rain in the area for the past few weeks. The amount of water in the reservoir is not enough for fish to survive. Nghia said the reservoir management authority had earlier drained the water to protect crops.
“Then they tried to repair the reservoir,” he said. Machines have been installed there to remove silt from the reservoir.” Many fish died immediately after this incident. According to local media, the amount of dead fish is estimated to be more than two hundred metric tons.

According to a report in the country’s local newspaper Tuoi Tre, the relevant agency in charge of managing the reservoir began excavation work earlier this year. Initially, the agency also planned to release excess water in the reservoir for fish.

“But due to the persistent heat wave, the investing authorities released water to the low-lying areas. As a result the water level goes down. Due to which the fish in the reservoir have died at a large rate.

The reservoir is one of the main sources of water for crop cultivation in Trang Bom and Vinh Cu districts of Dong Nai province. Authorities have started an investigation into the incident. At the same time, work is being done to quickly remove dead fish from the reservoir. Nghia said, “We hope that the authorities will try their best to improve the situation.