Ministry of Transport responds to Nghe An voters' petition on flood prevention on National Highway 7

Regarding the above content, the Ministry of Transport issued Official Dispatch No. 2231/BGTVT-KHĐT dated March 13, 2020 responding as follows:

National Highway 7, section Km 146+00 - Km 153+00 through Thach Giam commune and Hoa Binh town, Tuong Duong district, Nghe An province, about 7 km long, was put into operation in 2007, with an asphalt concrete road surface.

In 2018, due to the impact of storm No. 4 and tropical depressions causing prolonged heavy rain combined with water storage and flood discharge from Ban Ve, Khe Bo, Chi Khe, Ban Ang hydropower plants... caused local flooding in some sections.

The degraded state of National Highway 7 through Tuong Duong district. Photo: Document

The route runs along the Lam River bank and is directly affected by the river water level. Flooding during the flood season only appeared after the above mentioned hydropower plants blocked the water flow.

The Ministry of Transport will direct the Vietnam Road Administration to review the actual situation on the site, the history of exploitation of the route and coordinate with relevant local agencies and units to clearly identify the causes and responsibilities as a basis for researching solutions and proposing funding sources for flood control work on the above-mentioned routes.

Cracks and deep grooves appear with high density on National Highway 7. Photo: Document

Regarding the petition requesting Khe Bo Hydropower Plant to asphalt the concrete road section built by Khe Bo Hydropower Company, the Ministry of Transport stated:

Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Company (Investor of Khe Bo Hydropower Project) has constructed 4 sections to avoid flooding on National Highway 7 due to the impact of the hydropower reservoir, including: Km 143+105.1-Km 143+772.36; Kml44+127.6-Kml44+568.07, Km 146+585.5-Km146+924.8 and Kml48+00-Kml49+363.42. Currently, the road surface of the flood-avoiding sections is damaged cement concrete, but the investor has not yet repaired or restored the original structure (asphalt concrete) to hand over to the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam for management and operation.

National Highway 7 flooded after heavy rain. File photo

The Ministry of Transport will direct the Vietnam Road Administration to urgently work and request the investor to promptly repair and restore the original structure to ensure safe operation.