This afternoon, July 25: Urgent meeting to calculate the impact of the dam break in Laos on Vietnam
This afternoon (July 25), the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control will hold an urgent meeting regarding the collapse of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower dam in Attapeu province, southeastern Laos and its impacts on Vietnam to come up with response solutions.
On the morning of July 25, Mr. Vu Xuan Thanh - Deputy Director General of the General Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said that the agencies of the Ministry are coordinating with scientists to collect more specific information to calculate the impacts on the Mekong Delta region when the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower dam in Laos breaks.
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| The Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower dam collapsed, causing flooding in Attapeu province, southeastern Laos. Photo: IT |
Also according to information from Mr. Vu Xuan Thanh - Deputy Director General of the General Department of Natural Disaster Prevention, this afternoon, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Head of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention Nguyen Xuan Cuong will chair an urgent meeting of the Steering Committee with relevant ministries and branches on the collapse of the Lao hydropower dam, specific calculations of the impact on Vietnam to propose timely response measures for relevant localities, especially the provinces in the Mekong Delta region.
Regarding the above incident, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang said that the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower reservoir has a design capacity of 1.034 billion m3and currently only a part of the water is stored. The discharge flow of Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower plant is more than 200m3/s, very low compared to the discharge flow of large hydropower plants in Vietnam. On the morning of July 24, the discharge flow at Son La lake was over 3,200m33/s and Hoa Binh is nearly 4,000m3/s. The distance from the hydropower plant to the Vietnam border is about 650 km and if there is an impact on Vietnam, it will take 5-8 days for the water to reach Tan Chau, Chau Doc (An Giang).
Laos is currently experiencing widespread, very serious flooding in both the North and the South. "Vietnam has assigned specialized agencies to closely monitor and be ready to support Laos when needed," said Deputy Minister Hoang Van Thang.
Earlier, on the evening of July 23, the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower dam in Attapeu province, southeastern Laos, collapsed, leaving hundreds of people missing and many people in six villages in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, southeastern Laos, were believed to have died, according to Lao news agency LNA. More than 6,600 people were left homeless by floodwaters.
How does the hydroelectric dam collapse in Laos affect Vietnam?
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang, Deputy Head of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, said "there is a lot of inaccurate information in the press about the collapse of the Xe Pien-Xe Namnoy Hydropower Plant in Laos."