Focus on maintenance and repair to ensure reservoir safety before the storm season

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hiep - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development spoke at the conference. Photo: Van Truong

The conference was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in coordination with the People's Committee of Nghe An province. Attending the conference were comrades: Nguyen Hoang Hiep - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An province; and representatives from localities across the country, and enterprises operating in the field of irrigation.

Nationwide, there are 1,200 damaged and degraded reservoirs.

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, up to now, the whole country has invested in building 6,648 irrigation reservoirs, of which 702 are large reservoirs. However, most of the dams creating irrigation reservoirs are earth dams, built in the 70s and 80s of the last century. Due to limitations in technology and investment capital, the age is too long, so there have been or are at risk of incidents.

Currently, there are about 1,200 damaged and degraded reservoirs nationwide. The implementation of legal regulations on dam safety management has not received due attention, technical skills are limited, and there is a lack of funding for maintenance, repair, and upgrading.

Many districts and communes have not yet established grassroots irrigation management and exploitation organizations according to regulations. The staff and workers in charge of management and operation are still small and do not have sufficient professional capacity.

Urgently arrange capital to upgrade reservoirs

Nghe An has 652 reservoirs, 107 of which have been repaired to date. The remaining reservoirs are medium and small, with a high risk of incidents during the rainy and stormy season. Although the province has many solutions for upgrading and repairing, due to limited funding, the work of repairing reservoirs is still facing many difficulties.

Construction of Mong village reservoir. Illustration photo

Speaking at the conference, Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to allocate capital and support localities to promptly repair weak reservoirs and works that are at risk of not ensuring safety during the rainy season. Allocate capital to carry out inspection work, establish operating procedures, mark the protection corridor of the works, and install an operational monitoring system. Strengthen training and professional training for staff and irrigation workers to improve the efficiency of management and exploitation of water reservoirs.

After listening to the opinions of the delegates and concluding the conference, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep suggested: Localities coordinate with the General Department of Irrigation and units under the Ministry to organize inspections and assessments of the current status of irrigation reservoirs, arrange funds to repair works and construction items at risk of unsafety. Speed ​​up the implementation of sub-projects under the WB8 project component. Specifically, in 2019, 84 reservoirs will be upgraded and completed. Strengthen the application of technology to monitor, supervise and safely operate reservoirs.

At the same time, the Deputy Minister requested to strengthen the safety assurance for people in the downstream areas, inform people about the unpredictable impacts of weather and climate change. Warn about the risks that may be faced, guide people on how to respond. The General Department of Irrigation needs to have simple guidance documents to help localities do a good job of communication.

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