Precarious houses at the foot of the mountain

(Baonghean.vn) - Along National Highway 7 and Ho Chi Minh Road through Khai Son Commune, Anh Son District, there are dozens of houses built right at the foot of the mountain; the risk of landslides and subsidence is very high, especially during the rainy and stormy season...

In the area of ​​hamlets 6, 7, 8 in Khai Son commune, there are currently about 40 houses of households located right at the foot of the mountain. The terrain in this area is not very stable, heavy rain lasting for many days will cause the soil structure to be broken, combined with digging and leveling, increasing the risk of landslides.

Although the rainy season is approaching, many households in Khai Son commune are still leveling the ground to build houses right at the foot of the mountain.

The geological characteristics of this area are not very stable, and are prone to landslides and subsidence.

Although it is now the beginning of the rainy season, local people are still clearing hills and slopes to create flat land for building houses; despite the unpredictable dangers. Ms. Thai Thi Yen, a resident of village 6, Khai Son commune, said: My family built houses in these areas due to lack of land and lack of funds to build in safer locations.

In addition, many households deliberately build houses at the foot of the mountain to stay close to the national highway, making it convenient for business and trade.

Many houses are being built right at the foot of the mountain, despite the danger.

Housing projects at the foot of the slope must ensure a number of necessary regulations, such as: The minimum distance from the slope is 10 meters, a system of embankments, ties and reinforcement measures must be built to prevent landslides...

However, most of the houses built in the areas near the foot of the mountain along the national highways in Khai Son area do not have measures to ensure safety and prevent landslides.

The upper part of this house is built against the cliff and the lower part is less than an arm's length from the foot of the mountain.

Mr. Ho Anh Thai - Vice Chairman of Khai Son Commune People's Committee said: Currently, the number of households at risk of landslides in the commune is concentrated in villages 6, 7, 8. Although the locality has actively propagated to the people about the dangers of building houses right at the foot of the mountain, especially when the rainy and stormy season is approaching. But for many reasons, mostly due to lack of funds, households still ignore the danger and dig up land to build houses right at the foot of the mountain.

Hundreds of houses in Anh Son district are also in areas at high risk of landslides, due to people digging up hillsides to build houses.

In addition to Khai Son area - a commune with a large number of households building solid houses, located right at the foot of the mountain, currently in the whole Anh Son district there are hundreds of households scattered in 21 communes and towns at risk of landslides due to digging up hill soil to build houses.

As the rainy season approaches, landslides and subsidence in these areas are a real risk. It is known that in 2012, a prolonged heavy rain caused 9 houses in Anh Son district to collapse, injuring 5 people.

Xuanzang