Uneasy at the foot of Quyết mountain

Fearful of death

For many years now, every time it rains, the whole family of Mr. Do Doan Khanh in Block 3, Trung Do Ward (Vinh City) hastily flees their house to find a safe shelter. This is also the common situation of hundreds of households living at the foot of Quyet Mountain today, especially those on Ngo Thi Nham Street.

Quyet Mountain seen from above. Photo: Tien Hung

“Every time it rains, I am scared. Sometimes rocks and soil fall down,” said Mr. Khanh. However, due to not having enough money to buy a house and move to a new place, Mr. Khanh and other households here have to live with death, waiting for the government to arrange resettlement. However, for more than 10 years, this problem has only been a dream. According to the people, landslides at Dung Quyet mountain have been happening since 2008, when the road to the temple of King Quang Trung was being built, this area also suffered landslides.

Households living at the foot of Quyet Mountain are waiting for resettlement. Photo: Tien Hung

Until now, Mr. Le Van Lap in Block 2, Trung Do Ward, still cannot forget the first landslide in 2010. That time, after a torrential rain, landslides occurred in many places, dumping a large amount of rock and soil. Although there were no casualties, 13 houses and many properties were severely damaged. Not long after, also in Block 2, hundreds of cubic meters of rock and soil from the mountain suddenly collapsed, burying many vegetable gardens and wells. Since then, people's gardens at the foot of the mountain have been gradually encroached upon.

"At around 9 p.m. that day, my whole family was getting ready to go to bed when suddenly we heard a loud explosion, followed by the sound of rushing water. Everyone panicked and rushed out of the house. As soon as we ran out to the street, dozens of cubic meters of rock and soil fell down, then flooded the garden and onto the street. Luckily, no one was injured, but all the items in the kitchen such as the refrigerator, washing machine, pots and pans... were swept away by the rock and soil," Lap recounted. It took the people here half a month to clean up after the huge rock and soil fell down.

Rocks and soil flooded into people's houses during a landslide in 2019. Photo: TH

The most serious landslide was in October 2019. That time, after a long period of heavy rain and flooding, a huge amount of rock and soil collapsed on many houses in Block 3, Trung Do Ward. Seven houses were flooded with rock and soil, some houses were even completely buried by rock and soil... Luckily, because people actively fled, there were no human casualties.

Landslides have threatened people for more than 10 years. Photo: TH

Mr. Dang Phi Truong, a local resident, said that for more than 10 years now, landslides have often occurred during storms and rains, making people feel insecure. “In recent years, whenever there is a flood, we have to evacuate because we are afraid of landslides. In 2020, we were notified of compensation of 1.9 million VND/m²to relocate, but my family cannot go because this amount of money cannot buy land for resettlement," said Mr. Truong.

Concerns from illegally built tombs

Not only are there worries about rocks and soil, but people at the foot of Quyết Mountain are also afraid of the tombs built on the mountain. In each landslide, many tombs built with solid bricks and stones collapse onto the houses below. There was a time when more than 30 tombs collapsed from the mountain. Meanwhile, the problem of illegal tomb construction here still cannot be completely resolved.

According to the leader of Trung Do ward, more than 20 years ago, the government banned burials on Quyet mountain. But in recent years, when conducting a census, the number of rebuilt graves has increased alarmingly. In 2015, there were about 1,700 graves on Quyet mountain. By October 2019, through the survey and statistics of graves here, there were 1,921 scattered graves. The number of graves is mainly concentrated in areas of block 2 and block 4 in the ward. Up to now, the number of graves has reached over 3,000. Thus, in just a few years, more than 1,300 new graves have been formed.

Many clans fenced off large areas to occupy land, turning the rare, flat, empty lands on Quyet Mountain into cemeteries. Photo: Tien Hung

According to the reporter's records, along the road to the Hoang De - Quang Trung Temple, there are areas that are now no different from a cemetery. Many families and clans even fenced off a large area of ​​land to occupy the land for a family cemetery. In addition, when observing closely, one can see that many graves here are just wind graves... "They just built them there to occupy the land, and then brought them up to rebury them," said Mr. Nguyen Van Long, a resident living at the foot of Quyet Mountain.

Not long ago, a family in Cua Nam ward was discovered taking their loved one to Quyet mountain to bury him illegally at night. “At around 2am, people saw the hearse driving up the mountain and reported it to the authorities. But when we arrived, they had already buried him. We couldn’t stop them in time. Regarding the illegally built graves, they all built them illegally at night, when we arrived, they were all finished, everything was over,” said an official from Trung Do ward.

Many graves on Quyet mountain are wind graves. Photo: Tien Hung

The problem of illegally built graves on Quyet Mountain not only makes people feel insecure because of landslides and collapses on houses below, but also causes fear of forest fires. In particular, Quyet Mountain area is mainly pine forest, which is very flammable when leaves fall on graves. Not long ago, a family while visiting a grave, due to careless burning of incense, caused a serious forest fire here.

“We are aware of this situation. The locality has proposed to move all graves out of Quyet Mountain,” said Mr. Tran Quang Dai, Chairman of Trung Do Ward People’s Committee.

The graves on Quyet Mountain pose a potential risk of forest fires. Photo: Tien Hung

According to Mr. Dai, whenever there is a storm, the ward authorities are worried about evacuating people because more than 100 families are living in areas at risk of landslides. In the hot season, they are afraid of forest fires because their houses are close to Quyet Mountain, and in the rainy season, they are afraid of landslides. So far, only 6 families at risk of landslides have been supported to relocate themselves. Currently, the Vinh City People's Committee has surveyed 5 hectares of resettlement land to relocate more than 100 households in areas at risk of landslides. However, the implementation time and completion date for the relocation are still unknown. Meanwhile, the remaining 200 households in the planning area still do not know when they will be "untied".