Suffering because of the… straw road.

(Baonghean.vn) -The roads leading to the countryside are covered in straw at this time of year. The straw obscures every path, blocking visibility and creating extremely dangerous traffic traps...

Along Highway 46, the road leading to Nam Dan town is frequently busy, yet the sight of straw drying along both sides of the road remains unavoidable. Across the Nam Dan bridge, on the road from Nam Tan to Khanh Son and Nam Trung, the practice of people occupying the road to dry straw becomes even more rampant. Here, the road surface seems to have been repaved. In some places, the straw-strewn road stretches for more than 1 km. Not only are people drying straw, but they also use the road to place rice threshing machines. After threshing, the rice is piled high in large mounds, each 1-2 meters high. Further along the Vinh bypass, bordering the Lam River, the road is not only used for drying straw but also for drying rice and corn. To distinguish their products from others, people even use bricks, paving stones, and wood as barriers.

The Vinh bypass road is used for drying agricultural products.

Because straw completely covers the road surface, people traveling on this route inevitably face inconveniences. The worst is on roads that are already in disrepair, full of potholes. At this time, travelers feel like they are navigating a maze, with nowhere to avoid obstacles. Ms. Lan (from Nam Cuong commune) lamented: "This situation happens every harvest season. If only the people would just dry the straw on the sides of the road, leaving the road itself for traffic, but instead, there's nowhere to avoid it."

A rice threshing machine placed right on the road is obstructing traffic in Quynh Hoa commune, Quynh Luu district. Photo: Minh Huong

In Quynh Luu district, on the only paved inter-communal road in Quynh Hoa commune, many households have brazenly occupied the road surface to thresh rice. Many vehicles have to navigate through the dusty straw, causing considerable frustration. A truck driver who frequently travels this route said: "Every harvest season, we're terrified when we pass this road. It's not the dirt from the dust, but the risk of accidents because the straw blocks the entire road, and there's a lot of traffic passing through here."

These straw-lined roads run through Khanh Son commune (Nam Dan district).

This situation has been reported for many years. Local authorities have repeatedly reminded people, but during harvest season, things revert to their old ways. The reasons for this are partly due to people's lack of awareness and partly because people now lack proper places to dry their straw. Places like village community centers and yards, which were once used for drying, are now mostly covered with roofs. Local authorities need to educate and guide people on how and where to dry their straw properly, avoiding the current traffic obstructions.

My Ha - Minh Huong