Lam Giang sand pumping, pumping... the foot of the embankment!
(Baonghean.vn) - Over the past years, Nghe An has invested hundreds of billions of VND to build embankments to protect dikes and prevent riverbank erosion. However, in recent years, many important embankments have been eroded or even collapsed due to illegal sand mining.
Current situation
On October 17, 2019, while at home, Mr. Dinh Van Mao (in Thanh Linh commune, Thanh Chuong district) was startled by the rumbling sound of landslides on the riverbank. Running out of the house, he was shocked to see a section of reinforced concrete embankment that had just been built a few months ago plummeting straight into the Lam River. "The embankment was damaged, causing the riverbank to collapse. We had to put in bamboo and wooden stakes, hoping to keep the bank," said Mr. Mao.
Living right next to the riverbank, for nearly a year now, Ms. Nguyen Thi Luan has not dared to sleep in the house behind the riverbank anymore. "Since the embankment has drifted down to the river, the riverbank has encroached more and more on the house, the walls of the buffalo and cow pens have also cracked, the main house is only a few meters away from the river" - Ms. Luan worries, especially when the rainy and stormy season is approaching, she cannot predict when her house will be eroded.
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| People in Thanh Linh commune (Thanh Chuong) put bamboo stakes to prevent riverbank erosion. Photo: Phu Huong |
The embankment project to prevent landslides on Lam River bank, section 2, Thanh Linh commune, with a total investment of 4 billion VND, was completed and put into use on December 28, 2018. However, after less than 1 year, during the rain from October 14 to 17, 2019, an embankment section of about 80m collapsed.
According to Mr. Tran Quoc Toan - Head of the Dike Management Department - Provincial Irrigation Department, the embankment collapsed due to many reasons. Local people's feedback said that some boats and ships took advantage of the darkness to approach and illegally exploit sand and gravel at locations near the foot of the embankment, causing the riverbed to subside. In addition, after the embankment was completed, some households encroached, expanded their gardens, built house foundations, fences on the beach terrace along the top of the embankment, and dumped waste on the top of the embankment.
"Those factors combined, met with heavy rain for 4 days, forming a flow with high volume and velocity that poured straight down the embankment, destabilizing the riverbed and the embankment structures, causing deep slides, and serious erosion of the embankment and riverbank," said Mr. Toan.
“Previously, due to changes in the flow, the Lam River bank passing through the commune had eroded many times, sometimes washing away the bamboo bank to prevent waves. The embankment was built by the state, but before people could feel secure, it collapsed. In the past, we have focused on many solutions and coordinated to push back, but the illegal sand mining situation has not completely stopped. The subjects mainly operate late at night, so it is very difficult to handle.”
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| Cracks have appeared on the walls of livestock barns of households living near the collapsed riverbank in Thanh Linh commune. Photo: Phu Huong |
The embankment along the left side of Ta Lam, passing through Hung Linh commune, Hung Nguyen district, was also invested in and built with the purpose of preventing riverbank erosion. However, the embankment here has been damaged along its entire length of nearly 1 km, many sections are seriously damaged.
Mr. Truong Cuong - a resident living near the riverbank said: The situation of sand and gravel dredging is quite common, day and night. As soon as we arrived, we saw sand dredging ships still operating. "They continuously dredge sand, hollowing out and damaging the embankment. If we don't stop them, no matter how we build the embankment, it will be damaged. Living close to the river, we are very worried. People have tried to push us away but to no avail," Mr. Cuong said indignantly. In recent years, the river has increasingly encroached on the village, and many of the people's riverside crop areas have become rivers.
Need to deal with it thoroughly
In recent years, from state capital, Nghe An has invested tens of billions of VND to build embankments along the banks of major rivers to prevent riverbank erosion, ensuring the safety of property and lives of people; including embankments to prevent riverbank erosion, prevent loss of productive land and embankments to protect the dykes from the commune, mainly along Lam and Hieu rivers.
However, up to now, many embankment sections have been severely damaged, such as in Nhan Khanh and Hung Linh (Hung Nguyen); some embankments have even drifted into the river after only a short time of use, such as Thanh Linh embankment. Nhan Khanh embankment has had to be repaired many times; Nam Trung embankment (Nam Dan) collapsed 3-4 years ago, a nearly 2 km long embankment section, protecting the residential area and production land of Nam Trung commune, now only has a concrete frame left, the base and roof have almost collapsed.
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| Sand mining in Thanh Chuong district. Photo courtesy of Van Truong |
The difficulty in protecting the current embankment sections is that the beautiful sand mines are often located near the shore and embankment, and the vehicles that stick their hoses close to the foot of the embankment to suck sand cause serious damage. In addition, some other embankment lines, although not yet seriously damaged, have affected the structure of the embankment. If the situation of sand sucking close to the foot of the embankment is not stopped in time for a long time, it will endanger the construction, especially the embankment lines protecting the shore.
Faced with the situation of illegal sand mining that has damaged many embankments in recent times, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has repeatedly sent official dispatches to localities, the police, and the environment sector requesting coordination in handling the issue; many inspection teams have been established to expel and punish violators. In recent years, this situation has decreased, and is no longer as blatant as before, but there has not been any real change.
“If it continues for a long time, illegal sand mining at unauthorized locations will damage the embankment. In the past few years, Nghe An has not had any major floods, this system is still being maintained and is still effective, but if there is a major flood, the possibility of the embankment collapsing will be extremely high, the effect of protecting the riverbank and the dikes will no longer exist, and there is even the possibility of danger to the safety of property and people's lives.”
The Government agreed to extend the implementation time of the Ky Son (Nghe An) Emergency Landslide Treatment Project.
(Baonghean.vn) - The Prime Minister has just given his opinion on adjusting, supplementing items and extending the implementation time of the Emergency Project to handle landslide incidents in Block 4, Muong Xen town, Ky Son district, Nghe An province.
