Concerns about weak irrigation works

(Baonghean) - The renovation and upgrading of some weak irrigation works serving the work of flood and storm prevention in Nghe An is behind schedule due to incomplete procedures, lack of capital... which is one of the factors increasing the risk of insecurity for the lives of people in affected areas as the storm and flood season approaches.

The flood discharge from Vuc Mau Lake during the 2013 flood season caused great damage to the property of the people of Hoang Mai Town and Quynh Luu District. This was a valuable lesson when 286 houses living around the lake were submerged in water from 1-2m deep, some people died; from there, the issue of managing and operating the water discharge from Vuc Mau Lake in a reasonable manner to protect the safety of the dam, while having measures to ensure the safety of hundreds of households living in the area. But until now, the concern is still lingering...

Construction of downstream channel of Nam Dan sluice upgrade and expansion project and channel system.

The operating process of Vuc Mau lake and some items such as incident handling system; communication system, siren... have been gradually completed, however, the issue of ensuring safety for 286 households in the lake area has not been promptly addressed. Mr. Phan Tien Dung, Chairman of Tan Thang Commune People's Committee (Quynh Luu) said: "When the water level of Vuc Mau lake rose to +22.67m as in the heavy rain in 2013, 51 households in 3 hamlets, hamlets 12/9; 19/8; 3/2, were deeply submerged in water for many days, causing great damage to property and threatening the lives of people. In order for these households to feel secure and stabilize their lives, it is necessary to relocate and resettle.

However, that urgent problem has not been resolved in time. The flood season is approaching, while there is no plan to evacuate people in the reservoir area. If there is heavy rain like in 2013, the commune will still have to temporarily evacuate people to the commune People's Committee, cultural houses, or schools to ensure people's safety." Along with Tan Thang, many other households in the Vuc Mau reservoir area in Quynh Thang and Quynh Tan communes are also at similar risk when the lake water level rises. According to statistics, during the heavy rain in 2013, Quynh Thang commune had 229 households in 6 hamlets 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 that were deeply submerged in water. Quynh Tan commune had 8 households in hamlet 4 that were also greatly affected.

Faced with the above situation, the province has directed relevant levels, sectors and units to set up boundary markers in Vuc Mau lake with normal water level (+21m) and designed flood level, elevation (+22.72m), but this work is progressing slowly. Mr. Dang Ngoc Binh, Vice Chairman of Quynh Luu District People's Committee said: "In order to have a basis to determine the specific area affected by each household and the level of flooding, thereby proposing solutions, the district really needs the province, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to direct the Bac Irrigation Company Limited to set up boundary markers in Vuc Mau lake with normal water level (+21m) and designed flood level, elevation (+22m).

Based on the current measurement, the district has a basis to coordinate with the locality and related units to review the plan for resettlement of the reservoir, the plan to support production restriction... according to regulations to submit to the relevant levels and sectors for consideration and approval". Regarding the issue of slow implementation of the boundary marking of Vuc Mau reservoir, Mr. Le Van Cuong, Deputy Director of Bac Irrigation Company Limited explained: "Because the boundary marking of Vuc Mau reservoir (about 70 km long) takes a lot of time and requires a large investment, the unit has now completed the documents and is submitting them to the relevant departments and sectors for consideration and resolution, after which the unit will implement it". The boundary marking work in Vuc Mau reservoir is very necessary, but the slow progress will affect Vuc Mau reservoir and the lives of hundreds of households during this year's flood season.

In the project to upgrade and expand the Nam Dan culvert and canal system with a total investment of more than 536.7 billion VND, after 4 years of project implementation, the project has not been completed on schedule. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has extended the implementation time of this important project to June 30, 2015. However, some difficulties have not been resolved. The construction package for the bridge over the canal on National Highway 46 (package 2), the contractor is a joint venture of 757 Joint Stock Company and 747 Construction and Trading Joint Stock Company, but the actual capacity of the construction unit is "problematic"; the total value of the construction volume has only reached 9,289 million VND, but the capital advance is up to 13,376 million VND, exceeding 144% compared to the volume already implemented. That is also a reason leading to great difficulty in urging the contractor to speed up the progress and especially now having to change the contractor.

On April 10, 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also approved the adjustment of the design drawings for the above bidding package. Mr. Nguyen Van De, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: “Most of the bidding packages of the project have been basically completed on schedule and currently the difficulties and problems in the bidding package for the construction of the bridge over the canal on National Highway 46 (No. 2); the bidding package for the construction of the construction road and the downstream channel (bid package No. 3) have been basically resolved. In bidding package No. 2, Hoa Hiep Company Limited has received the construction and in bidding package No. 3, the documents for adjusting the design drawings have been approved, but the estimate has not been approved because it exceeds the total investment.” Mr. Pham Duc Hanh, Director of Hoa Hiep Company Limited, said: “During the construction of the downstream channel, which is more than 1.2 km long, the unit encountered difficulties in finding a place to dump large amounts of soil when dredging the soil to build the channel. If this problem is not resolved promptly, it will affect the completion according to the extended schedule of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.”

In recent times, through investment support funds from the State and international organizations, some units and localities have been and are implementing the repair and upgrading of some dams and weak dams. Up to now, Quynh Luu district has 100 large and small irrigation dams, concentrated in mountainous communes such as Quynh Thang, Tan Thang, Quynh Tan, Tan Son, Quynh Tam, Ngoc Son... In addition to small-scale projects, the district has proactively funded to repair damage after storms, for large projects in the past 2 years (2014, 2015), the Provincial People's Committee has prioritized funding for Quynh Luu to repair dozens of projects worth hundreds of billions of VND.

In 2015 alone, the Provincial People's Committee invested 92 billion VND to repair and upgrade 6 large dams in the district such as Ba Tuy dam (Quynh Tan), Vung Da dam (Quynh Thang), Hoc Met dam, 3/2 lake (Tan Son), Khe Than lake (Quynh Tam)... And, with the close supervision and management of the District People's Committee and the sense of responsibility of the contractors, the above dam projects all ensure quality and progress, and are expected to be put into storage in the coming rainy season to serve irrigation for the summer-autumn rice crop of 2015 and ensure water production against drought in the spring crop of 2016...

Thus, currently, investment in upgrading and ensuring the safety of the dam system in our province is very necessary, especially during the rainy and stormy season. But the most important thing is still the capital source; for example, the Northern Irrigation Company Limited is currently managing 17 reservoirs, of which 11 have been upgraded and currently 2 reservoirs (Ba Tuy - Quynh Luu and Nha Tro - Yen Thanh) are under construction, but there are still 4 dams that need urgent investment to upgrade and repair to ensure safety before the rainy and stormy season but are facing difficulties in capital...

Hoang Vinh