100 billion VND irrigation canal causes difficulties for people in Do Luong

(Baonghean.vn) - The Van Trang canal in Do Luong district (Nghe An) has just been invested in construction worth 100 billion VND but has significantly affected the daily life and production of the people.

The entire canal has only two steps, many kilometers apart. Photo: Ngoc Phuong.

Van Trang Canal was invested in January 2016. These days, Van Trang Canal is always full of irrigation water to serve the summer-autumn production of 2017. The canal has just been upgraded under the ODA project, accordingly the canal wall is built in a V-shape, very convenient for water flow, ensuring agricultural production for thousands of hectares of rice and agricultural land. However, local people have reported shortcomings when the canal was completed.

Mrs. Thai Thi Ba - Hamlet 3 Van Son said: "This irrigation canal is 4 to 5 meters deep, but the entire kilometer-long section has no steps up or down. When herding buffalo and cows, they get thirsty and come down to drink, slip and fall and cannot get up. Or when spraying pesticides, we want to scoop water into the tank but it is very difficult. We propose that more steps be built."

People have difficulty getting water or going down the canal because of the lack of steps. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan in Hamlet 4, Van Son, said: "When the cows fell down, the water pumping station had water, so people waded in and were still able to help the cows and buffaloes up. The ditch was dry and had little water, so the only way was to go all the way to Thinh Son, 1km away, to find steps for the cows and buffaloes to climb up."

Because the entire new canal is 3 km long, but there are only 2 steps up and down at 2 locations very far apart, it is really inconvenient for people to go to work in the fields. The canal wall is built in a V shape, has a large slope, and is slippery, so when people need to get water from the canal, it is very difficult and dangerous. Many people even slipped and fell into the canal, with no place to hold on to the bank, very easy to drown.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Son, a traffic and irrigation officer of Van Son commune, said: "The People's Committee of the commune has repeatedly requested the Department of Industry and Trade to consult with the construction unit and the Project Board to add more steps, but now the project is almost finished but there are only two steps. We continue to request to build a second step on the canal bank."

Discussing this issue, Mr. Ho Dinh Minh - Director of the irrigation enterprise said that the construction unit did not build steps because this area is far from residential areas.

Phuong Ngoc