Laos denies news of Nam-u2 hydropower dam collapse in the North
(Baonghean.vn) - Recently, some foreign media agencies as well as social networks reported that after the hydroelectric dam failure in Attapeu province in southern Laos, the Namou2 hydroelectric dam failure occurred in northern Laos. The news said that the dam failure caused thousands of households to be scattered, causing public panic.
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| Nam-u Hydropower Plant releases floodwaters. Photo: Lang Quoc Khanh |
Mr. Vorasack Pravong - Deputy General Director of Lao National Radio said that Lao state media has denied this news.
The purpose of the rumors is unclear, but this is false information that disrupts the political security situation in Laos, aiming to divide and confuse public opinion, especially while the Lao Government is focusing on dealing with the serious consequences of the dam collapse in Attapeu province.
Some foreign media agencies said that the Nam-u2 hydroelectric dam in Luang-pha-bang province, northern Laos, collapsed on July 27, 2018, forcing many people to evacuate. The above information is said to be based on the announcement of the Lao weather forecast agency. Accordingly, from July 27-30, 2018, the whole country of Laos will continue to have heavy rain. They said that the heavy rain caused the Nam-u2 river in Luang-pha-bang province to rise and the Nam-u2 dam to collapse, which is not accurate.
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| The water level of the Nam-u2 hydropower plant reservoir is still at the allowable level. Photo: Lang Quoc Khanh |
In fact, the river water level has risen due to heavy rains over the past few days, but the Nam-u2 hydropower dam has not had any problems. The management board of this hydropower project also said that the flood discharge is a regular water regulation activity.
Regarding the above issue, Mr. Bounthan Bolavong - Vice Chairman of Pak Ou District directly led the inspection team to show that the panic and evacuation of people was real. However, the story that the Nam U2 hydropower dam was about to collapse was not true.
The above false information has caused public confusion, so it is necessary to propagate to the people not to believe in false information, affecting their lives, activities and production. The Vice Chairman of this district called on people to raise their awareness of filtering when receiving information; unite to build life, believe in the guidelines and leadership of the Party and Government, for the development of increasingly civilized villages.
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| Staff of Lao National Radio donated to support the dam collapse in Attapeu. Photo: Lang Quoc Khanh |
Nam-u2 Hydropower Plant has a capacity of 120MW, built by a Chinese contractor since 2013, in Muong-u district, Luang-pha-bang province, a province bordering Dien Bien province of Vietnam.