Residents in the landslide-prone area of Ky Son are hoping for a safe place to live.
Many families in Ky Son district have had to abandon their homes and seek temporary shelter with relatives due to landslides. Hundreds of households living in unsafe areas are awaiting resettlement areas where they can "settle down and make a living."
Lost their homes due to landslides.
Two days after heavy rain fell in Chieu Luu commune (Ky Son district), we arrived at the scene.landslideThe situation is serious in Xieng Thu village. The village is located on the road connecting Chieu Luu commune to Bao Thang commune. A huge amount of soil and rocks from the cliff has fallen onto the road, collapsing into people's houses. Some houses have been completely buried and are uninhabitable. Vehicles have been unable to pass through this section of road for several days now.
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Vi Thi Mon, holding her young child in her arms, stood in front of her house, which had just been buried under rocks and soil. Wiping away tears, she lamented: Her husband, La Van On, went to Laos to work and saved up some capital. Four years ago, they built a wooden-framed house with brick walls, worth nearly 500 million dong.
They thought they had a stable life, a place to settle down and build a career, but unexpectedly, after a night of heavy rain, rocks and soil from the cliff behind their house collapsed, leaving the couple penniless.
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“Luckily, the local authorities came to help dismantle all the wooden structures beforehand, and my husband and I took our two young children to stay with relatives, so we escaped disaster. For now, the whole family is staying with relatives, but we don't know what to do in the long term. We hope the local authorities will arrange a resettlement area for us to build a house,” Ms. Vi Thi Mon expressed.
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According to residents of Xieng Thu village, after the heavy rains and floods in 2022 and 2023, landslides occurred in the area, and some households lost their homes. Vi Thi Mon's family, however, stayed because they had nowhere to build a house. Therefore, they invested tens of millions of dong to build a stone embankment behind their house to prevent landslides. But the continuous heavy rains and floods caused terrible landslides, rendering the embankment unable to withstand the pressure, forcing them to dismantle their house to escape.
Not far away, rocks and soil have also spilled onto the road, collapsing onto the land of Ms. Vi Thi Chien and several other households. Standing in front of her house, threatened with being buried by the landslide, Ms. Chien said she no longer dared to rebuild her house there and would evacuate to live with relatives. Observations show that in this severely affected area, there are more than 10 houses in a state of anxiety, as one side is a cliff constantly in danger of landslides, and the other side is a deep ravine, posing a very high risk of losing their homes.
Mr. Lo Van Cang, Chairman of the People's Committee of Chieu Luu commune, said: Due to the influence of the remnants of typhoon No. 4, especially the heavy rain on the night of September 30th, the locality suffered significant damage to property and crops. Specifically, 40 houses were affected by landslides and flooding, and 5 houses had to be urgently relocated. Because of prior warnings and the mobilization of local forces to assist people in moving their homes, property, and people out of dangerous areas, fortunately there were no casualties, but many families are now homeless.
Currently, the local authorities are encouraging households to overcome difficulties and temporarily stay with relatives, while the commune will propose to higher authorities the arrangement of a new resettlement area.
A new resettlement area will be arranged.
In a conversation with us, Mr. Tho Ba Re – Vice Chairman of the District People's CommitteeKy SonAccording to reports: Before each forecast of heavy rain, the district directs communes and towns to proactively handle situations when heavy rain occurs. However, due to the influence of the remnants of typhoon No. 4 and especially the heavy rain on the night of September 30th, 54 houses in the district were damaged. Of these, 3 houses were completely destroyed.
Many roads in the communes of Huu Kiem, Chieu Luu, Bao Thang, etc., have been affected by landslides. The Xieng Thu - Bao Thang road continues to experience landslides in several locations, damaging one culvert in Bao Thang commune; a section of approximately 70 meters in Luu Hoa village, Chieu Luu commune, has been affected by a landslide, posing a risk of road collapse.
Landslides occurred on several rural roads (Xiềng Tắm - Xằng Trên - Xốp Dương - Cha Nga, Yên Hòa - Phà Chiếng, Noọng Dẻ - Huồi Pốc,...) in Nậm Cắn commune, with a total landslide length of approximately 80m and a volume of over 1000m³.3.
Mr. Tho Ba Re stated that Chieu Luu is a locality frequently affected by heavy rains and landslides. Therefore, since 2023, the district has coordinated with local authorities to conduct on-site surveys in the villages, especially in key flood-prone areas, areas along rivers and streams, and cliffs... They have identified approximately 300 households that need to be relocated, including more than 10 households requiring urgent relocation in Xieng Thu village.
To provide these households with new housing, the district has considered establishing a new residential area.resettlementAccordingly, the district has surveyed the Piêng Xẹt land area of Khe Nằn village, Chiêu Lưu commune, to establish a new resettlement area for the aforementioned more than 300 households.
“To have a new resettlement site, the district still has to prepare a project proposal for submission to higher authorities before implementation, so it won't take just a day or two but will take many months. Therefore, for the time being, households should find safe locations to build their homes themselves, or wait for the district to build a resettlement area,” Mr. Tho Ba Re shared.