Law

Keep the Bui Market Mountain

Nhat Lan • August 12, 2024 14:14

Landslides and subsidence began in 2020, but Cho Bui mountain in hamlet 2, Quang Son commune, Do Luong district with its lush green pine forests is a beautiful natural landscape, so along with ensuring safety for people, we should pay attention to protecting and developing the forest here...

Nhat Lan• August 11, 2024
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We know about the Cho Bui mountain subsidence and landslide in Hamlet 2, Quang Son Commune, Do Luong District in 2020, on the exact day in Dong Vo hill area, Phu Man Commune (Quoc Oai, Hanoi) a villa collapsed due to prolonged heavy rain. On July 24, 2024, the person who mentioned the Cho Bui mountain landslide used the incident of the villa collapse in Dong Vo to talk about the risk during the storm season for dozens of households in Hamlet 2, Quang Son Commune who are living under collapsed roofs. He said: “I went up there at the right time of the landslide. The landslide was very large. On the mountain, there were large orphaned rocks and there was no solution to prevent landslides, so it was really worrying…”.

Hoping to fully understand the incident 4 years ago, from the information we heard, we connected with Quang Son commune and Do Luong district. Then, in addition to direct exchanges, we received more than a dozen documents from various levels and sectors, enough to recreate the picture of the Cho Bui landslide 4 years ago. That was on October 30, 2020, due to the influence of storm No. 9, in Quang Son commune, there was prolonged heavy rain, causing widespread flooding. During the storm, the People's Committee of Quang Son commune received a report that the Cho Bui mountain area, at the location adjacent to hamlet 2, had a very serious subsidence with a risk of landslide. Faced with this critical situation, the People's Committee of Quang Son commune organized a field inspection. After that, it was determined that at about 3:30 p.m. on October 30, Cho Bui mountain had a crack from the foot of the mountain to the top with a length of about 80m; Near the top of the mountain, at the top of the crack, there is another horizontal crack about 20m long, about 1m wide, with a subsidence depth of up to 3m.

At this time, the People's Committee of Quang Son commune assessed that if the landslide situation continues to worsen, it will directly threaten the safety of about 13 households in Hamlet 2 at the foot of the mountain, namely the households of Le Thi Quy, Le Thi Doan, Le Huu Quang, Le Quang Cuong, Le Quang Vo, Le Thi Man, Le Huu Ha... Therefore, the commune quickly coordinated with the Hamlet 2 Executive Committee to directly visit each family within the affected area to notify people to prepare for emergency evacuation. At the same time, do not forget to place warning signs to prevent people from entering or leaving areas at risk of landslides and, in Document No. 247/BC-UBND, urgently report the landslide situation in the Cho Bui mountain area to ask for instructions from superiors.

Worried about the safety of people's lives, after receiving the report from the People's Committee of Quang Son commune, the People's Committee of Do Luong district continuously issued urgent documents directing the Party Committee and authorities to urgently implement immediate measures. That is, organize the evacuation of people to a safe place; arrange staff on duty 24/7 to monitor weather developments as well as subsidence and landslides in Cho Bui mountain; organize a "4 on-site" plan to promptly respond to incidents that occur. "Be ready and urgently evacuate people from areas at risk of landslides and flooded areas to safe places, ensuring absolute safety for people's lives, health and property...", the People's Committee of Do Luong district emphasized in the urgent document.

At the same time, to receive support in all aspects from superior agencies, on October 31, 2020, the People's Committee of Do Luong district sent Report No. 312/BC-UBND to the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Provincial Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control - Search and Rescue...

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Be ready and urgently evacuate people from areas at risk of landslides and flooded areas to safe places, ensuring absolute safety for people's lives, health and property...

Excerpt from urgent document of Do Luong District People's Committee

Arranging time, on July 28, 2024, we were taken by Vice Chairman of Quang Son Commune People's Committee Pham Hong Son and 2 officials of Do Luong district to the Cho Bui landslide site, to visit the residents of hamlet 2 where 13 households were affected. From Quang Son commune headquarters to Cho Bui mountain is only a short distance of less than 1 kilometer. After a few minutes of traveling, we could observe Cho Bui mountain, seeing the mountain surrounded by the green of the forests, and at the foot of the mountain, close together are gardens and houses of hundreds of households.

Looking up from the foot of the mountain, we can see that to reach the top of about a hundred meters, there are quite gentle slopes. But according to Mr. Pham Hong Son, to reach the landslide site, we have to follow the steep slope, the way up is quite difficult. Fortunately, because the pine forest on Cho Bui mountain is planted densely, so just follow the trees to go up to the landslide site, our journey up to the landslide site is not too difficult. After about 20 minutes, we reached the landslide site of 2020. There, the previously described horizontal crack of 20m long and 3m deep has lost its trace due to the rainy seasons of the past 4 years causing the soil and rock to collapse and turn into mounds, into cliffs and has been hidden by bushes and ferns. As for the vertical crack of 80m long, over time it has become a ravine with many small branches extending from the top down near the foot of the mountain. This situation, when there is heavy rain, will be a flow of water, soil, and rocks down to people's houses. Continuing to get closer to the top of the mountain, we identified 3 locations with rocks that people call orphan rocks. Among them, there are very large rocks, it can be imagined that if there is a subsidence or landslide causing the rocks to roll, it will be extremely dangerous...

From the reality of Cho Bui mountain, we understand why landslides are a nightmare for those living at the foot of the mountain, a concern for those responsible in Do Luong district and Quang Son commune. We carefully observed Cho Bui mountain, and discovered another worrying thing. That is, after a few minutes of resting at the top of Cho Bui mountain, on the way down to visit the residential area at risk of landslides, we saw that interspersed in the pine forest there were many large, long stretches of bare land without vegetation. Going to each place to observe, we saw that on the bare land there were many young acacia trees that had been planted for a short time. And it is worth mentioning that we clearly saw the negative impacts of humans. That is, to create a flat surface for planting young acacia trees, people deliberately lowered the mountain soil, leveled it... Therefore, there were quite a few pine trees with hollow roots, exposed roots, and were very susceptible to breaking and falling when there were floods...

Because the risk of subsidence and landslides on Cho Bui mountain is present, and the land reclamation on the mountain to plant acacia will increase the danger, we immediately discussed with the Vice Chairman of Quang Son Commune People's Committee, Pham Hong Son. According to Mr. Son, the forest on Cho Bui mountain was assigned to a household in the commune to take care of and protect; recently, when this household arbitrarily reclamation the land, the Commune People's Committee discovered and made a record of the violation, requesting the cessation of all activities that affect the forest...

After the field trip, we learned about the plan to prevent landslides on Cho Bui mountain. It was said that, recognizing the urgency of the report from Do Luong district, a working group from the province went to the landslide site to inspect. Afterwards, the Provincial People's Committee issued Document No. 7787/UBND-NN dated November 6, 2020, announcing the direction of Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nghia Hieu (now Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee), which stated: "Assign the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to preside over and coordinate with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Standing Office of the Provincial Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention - Search and Rescue and related units to inspect and advise on handling plans"; "Assign the Do Luong District People's Committee to continue to direct the Quang Son Commune People's Committee and related units to regularly inspect and monitor households living in the landslide area to promptly handle the situation to ensure absolute safety of life and property".

Then, the plan to remove land and lower the mountain to limit the risk of landslides was put forward for public discussion and consultation. In May 2021, Do Luong district and Quang Son commune proposed to choose the plan to allow surveying and planning to remove land and lower the mountain to avoid landslides. Because, in addition to 13 households near the foot of the hill, there are many households outside that are highly likely to be affected if a landslide occurs; meanwhile, resettlement for households will be very difficult, long-term, and the rainy season is approaching. From here, the investment policy for the urgent project "Handling landslides of Cho Bui mountain in hamlet 2, Quang Son commune, Do Luong district" with a total cost of 1.4 billion VND, implementing the contents of "Tarp roofing in serious landslide locations, with a total volume of about 27,500m³. Removing large orphaned rocks on the hilltop. Transporting soil to gathering and filling points within Quang Son commune" was approved by the People's Committee of Do Luong district in July 2021.

However, over a long period of time, no unit or enterprise dared to undertake the project. As officials of Do Luong district and Quang Son commune discussed, there were a number of enterprises that organized field trips but then "withdrew" because they realized that the construction was not safe and had a negative impact on the environment...

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There have been a number of businesses that organized field trips but then "withdrew" because they realized that the construction was not safe and had a negative impact on the environment...

Question: The plan to remove land and lower the mountain to prevent landslides is not feasible, have Quang Son commune and Do Luong district considered a new plan? It was discussed that on August 27, 2024, the working group of Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van De inspected the landslide situation at Cho Bui mountain. After the inspection, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee directed Do Luong district and Quang Son commune to continue implementing measures to respond to natural disasters, ensuring the safety of people's lives and property. As for the district and commune, they are considering relocating and resettling households in the affected area...

After the field trip to Cho Bui Mountain, we also contacted a number of geological and forestry experts and they suggested that in order to minimize subsidence and landslides, we should study and organize the increase of green belts on Cho Bui Mountain. As an expert said: “Up to now, the most effective measure to prevent landslides is still planting trees. For Cho Bui Mountain, choosing to plant trees with long lifespans is a measure that should be studied and implemented. When there are layers of green belts, assuming there is a landslide or rockfall incident, the negative impact will be minimized…”.

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For Cho Bui mountain, choosing to plant long-lived trees is a measure that should be studied and implemented. When there are green belts, assuming there is a landslide or rockfall, the negative impact can be minimized...

Connecting with the People's Committee of Do Luong district in early August 2024, it was announced that the district had just sent a document to the Provincial People's Committee requesting the policy of relocating households living in the area near the foot of Cho Bui mountain at risk of natural disasters and landslides. Specifically, it is requested that the Provincial People's Committee agree on the policy, arrange compensation funds, support site clearance for land, assets on land and build resettlement areas; to recover residential land and garden land of households living near the foot of Cho Bui mountain at risk of affecting their lives and allocate resettlement land to households. At the same time, allow the People's Committee of Do Luong district to survey the location to establish a detailed construction plan to divide land plots in the resettlement area, to arrange resettlement for households with an area of ​​about 2.2 hectares in Dong Quan area, Quang Son commune...

In our opinion, when the plan to demolish land and lower the mountain to prevent landslides is not feasible, we must consider the measure of relocating people. However, having grasped the thoughts of some households in the affected area, we know that this plan will also encounter many difficulties. Because the State budget is limited, while the residential construction has been invested on a large scale, land is an inseparable livelihood... Therefore, we think that, in parallel with the direction of implementing the resettlement project, Do Luong district and Quang Son commune need to strengthen the protection of existing forest areas, and study the suggestion of increasing the density of green belts on Cho Bui mountain...