The painful problem of sand and gravel exploitation in Vinh Son (Anh Son)

(Baonghean) -The banks are devastated, sugarcane and crops are swept into the river, each year losing about 3 hectares of productive land due to erosion. This is the current situation in Vinh Son commune (Anh Son). The main cause leading to this situation is the rampant illegal sand mining on Lam river, changing the flow and sinking the riverbank.

Following the Vinh Son commune police force, we went to the alluvial area close to the river bank, where dozens of large-capacity boats were competing to illegally dredge sand and gravel. Seeing the local authorities appear, the subjects on these boats quickly weighed anchor, steered the boats to the middle of the stream and continued to exploit. At this time, we calculated that within a radius of less than 1km, there were up to 12 boats massively exploiting sand and gravel.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Thanh - Head of Commune Police said: "Most of the owners of illegal sand mining boats are from Lang Son and Long Son communes. Because there is not much sand left in these two communes, they go to Vinh Son to mine. These subjects operate very sophisticatedly, often choosing the night time to mine, and have people on guard to deal with the authorities."

We followed the alluvial area close to the riverbank to witness the consequences of sand and gravel mining. It was the rainy season, farmers had not yet started production, so the alluvial area was used for grazing buffalo and cows. The high and strong water flow caused the erosion to occur very quickly. Compared to the remaining traces, there were sections of the river that had penetrated dozens of meters, creating giant arcs along the riverbank. Due to the weak alluvial soil structure, there were signs of continued erosion, especially after each flood.

In particular, in the area where people are growing sugarcane, the height from the alluvial land to the river surface is about 3-4m, so boats often choose to hide and illegally exploit sand and gravel. Therefore, the level of erosion in this area is extremely serious. Every day, even every hour, patches of alluvial land are eroded and washed away by water. Below, there are a lot of sugarcane plants that have been eroded and swept away. Some plants have been submerged in water, some are buried in sand and soil, some are still fresh because they have just been eroded. There are sections of water that have deeply eroded the banks, creating giant frog jaws, above which the sugarcane plants still grow normally. But just a few days later, when it rains or the river water rises, those frog jaws will collapse and sweep away a large amount of sugarcane plants.

A large area of ​​sugarcane was eroded and swept into the river.

The subjects often stop their boats close to the riverbank to illegally dredge sand and gravel.

In addition to economic losses, riverbank erosion also threatens the lives of people and livestock passing by. Talking to us, Mr. Nguyen Huu Khanh, a local land officer, said: “Every year, Vinh Son loses nearly 3 hectares of productive land due to erosion. The main reason is that illegal sand miners often bring their boats close to the shore to exploit, so the erosion rate occurs faster. If not prevented in time, the productive land area will continue to shrink.”

Faced with the increasingly complicated situation of sand and gravel mining, the People's Committee of Vinh Son commune has sent police and militia forces to regularly patrol, detect, handle and expel them, but with little effect. Because when discovered, illegal miners often weigh anchor and steer their boats to the middle of the river. Meanwhile, local authorities are not equipped with means and have no sanctions, only stopping at pushing them out of the area close to the riverbank, at most, imposing administrative fines. When the authorities retreat, these subjects bring their boats close to the shore to continue mining. Not to mention, sometimes these subjects challenge and even use weapons to fight back.

Talking to us, Mr. Phan Ba ​​Trung - Chairman of Vinh Son Commune People's Committee said: "Recently, the situation of sand and gravel exploitation in the area has become complicated, the subjects are people from other communes, while we lack the means to push them away and handle them. Therefore, we have sent a document requesting the district to intervene to handle it completely."

Receiving the feedback and proposal from Vinh Son commune, on August 7, 2013, the Standing Committee of Anh Son District Party Committee issued an official dispatch directing the handling of the situation of sand and gravel mining in Vinh Son commune to the People's Committee and the Police of Anh Son district. The content of the official dispatch requested to focus on immediately handling the situation of illegal sand and gravel mining in Vinh Son commune, not allowing this situation to continue, affecting security and order, ecological environment and reducing people's trust. The official dispatch of the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee requested to have effective handling measures, no later than August 12, 2013.

On that basis, on August 23, 2013, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Anh Son district signed a Decision to establish an interdisciplinary inspection team to inspect the compliance with the law on mineral exploitation activities, environmental protection, and water resources for organizations and individuals in the area. One of the tasks of the interdisciplinary inspection team stated in the decision is to inspect, expel, and handle organizations and individuals illegally exploiting sand and gravel in rivers in the district in general and in Vinh Son commune in particular.

People of Vinh Son commune are hoping that the interdisciplinary inspection team will soon intervene to help preserve agricultural land and protect the environment.

Tuong Anh