'Only when a few houses are swallowed up'

In addition, the wells that provide water for daily life of the people have dried up. But the most worrying thing for the people is that in the middle of the night, they and their houses will be swallowed by the "death holes".

The phenomenon of house subsidence and increasingly depleted groundwater in the above mentioned villages is not a new phenomenon, but has actually been occurring for several years. At first, no one knew why this was happening. But then the real cause was determined: It was due to companies and businesses exploiting minerals in the area.

Cracks in a house in Chau Hong. Photo: Tien Hung

According to information from Chau Hong commune, there are currently 11 enterprises participating in mineral exploitation in this commune, including stone and tin ore mining. To extract ore, mineral enterprises use vehicles and machines to dig deep into the ground to bring up soil and rock (with tin ore), and use large machines to grind them into powder. Then, they use drills and high-capacity pumps to draw groundwater from the ground to spray and select ore. Because of the high density of mining enterprises and excessive exploitation of groundwater, wells and ponds of local people in the area have dried up. This has also changed the geological structure, causing severe impacts on people's houses. Moreover, groundwater sources have dried up, and surface water sources cannot be used because of heavy pollution. A few years ago, the press also reported a situation where farmers' fields and agricultural land could not be cultivated because of sludge from mineral mining companies. Water from streams is also heavily polluted, fish die and rice withers frequently. People have complained many times but nothing has changed.

With the subsidence phenomenon like in recent days, many people sadly say: "Maybe when a few houses are swallowed by the ground, people will be able to stop the indiscriminate exploitation of minerals" (?!).