Fear of seawater intrusion

(Baonghean) - For many years, people in some communes in coastal districts have always lived in a state of insecurity due to the alarming level of coastal erosion, especially during the rainy and stormy season... In addition, climate change has also made the sedimentation at estuaries increasingly serious, causing difficulties for fishermen.

The coastal commune of Quynh Lap (Hoang Mai Town) often faces natural disasters, especially landslides caused by wave erosion. Rising sea levels, due to big waves, cause landslides, directly threatening people's lives and property and making it difficult for fishing boats to enter and exit. Over the years, local people have taken practical actions to proactively protect their families from natural disasters and floods.

Every year, during the rainy and stormy season, the people of Dong Thanh hamlet build their own embankments to prevent waves from causing landslides into their houses. However, this is a temporary solution, while landslides and erosion occur very quickly, so every rainy and stormy season, the villagers have to evacuate to avoid it.

Joy came to the people of Quynh Lap coastal area when in 2014, the 2km long breakwater project had a clear effect in preventing and combating natural disasters, people no longer had to worry about landslides every time there was a flood. However, the commune still has 3 hamlets Dong Thanh, Dong Minh, Tan Minh with 750 households always facing danger every time there is a storm.

Mr. Tran Dinh Chieu, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Lap Commune, said: "Every year, before the rainy season, the commune sets up inspection teams for the dike system, clearly understanding the situation of people living in coastal areas to do a good job of propaganda for people to proactively prevent and avoid natural disasters. When the rainy season comes, the locality resolutely organizes the evacuation of vulnerable coastal areas. The current difficulty of the locality is that there is a nearly 7 km long coastline that needs to be invested in building a solid sea dike system, requiring a large amount of money, which the locality cannot solve...".

The 2km dike system was completed in 2014 in Quynh Lap commune (Hoang Mai town).

At Lach Van, Dien Thanh commune, Dien Chau district, the sedimentation has caused congestion and hindered fishing boats. Although the coastal dredging project has been handled, however, up to now, due to landslides on the Dien Kim side, the channel is drying up. In early 2015, a fishing boat of Dien Bich commune fishermen ran aground and could not be pulled up, so the boat had to be destroyed.

Mr. Phan Dinh Trung, Vice Chairman of Dien Thanh Commune People's Committee, said: "Another concern is the situation of trash in Lach Van, especially during floods. The commune mobilized people to clean up but everything went back to the way it was, greatly affecting the tourist season of Dien Thanh...".

The phenomenon of landslides and sedimentation of coastal areas has a significant impact on people's lives and production. To cope with natural disasters, promoting the proactive role of the people is considered the most effective measure. In recent times, coastal areas have invested in projects to cope with natural disasters. For example, in Dien Chau, with 25 km of coastline, in addition to 2 sea dikes, 3 river dikes, and estuaries with a length of 75 km invested in by the State, people in the district have also proactively contributed billions of VND to build 150 km of drainage canals, plant more than 2,000 hectares of coastal mangrove forests and protective forests, and embank over 2 km of eroded river banks. Along with that, Dien Chau district has strengthened propaganda, education, and improved community skills in preventing and combating natural disasters.

Along the 82 km coastline of the province, there are 6 river mouths, and every year 2-3 storms make landfall directly in Nghe An. Accordingly, ensuring the safety of people and infrastructure in coastal areas is an urgent requirement. Mr. Le Dinh Long, Deputy Head of the Provincial Department of Storm and Flood Prevention and Control, said: “The construction of estuary and river dykes has been carried out by the government and people with domestic and foreign capital sources. However, due to the moderate level of investment capital, this work can only meet the level of preventing and combating winds of level 7 and level 8.

In case of a major storm, the province and localities have developed plans to evacuate people from dangerous areas. In the long term, these vulnerable areas need to continue investing in and upgrading dykes to prevent high tides and saltwater intrusion. At the same time, dredging of waterways also needs to be carried out annually to facilitate fishing boats to travel, catch seafood and take shelter from storms…”.

Le Thanh