Chi Khe Hydropower Plant did not fulfill its commitment, hundreds of households suffered losses.

People had to move their houses themselves.

For many months now, Ms. Ngan Thi Chuyen (70 years old, Lien Hong village, Cam Lam commune, Con Cuong, Nghe An) has had to frequently go to the fields to stay with her son. Her large stilt house on the banks of the Lam River has been left almost empty. “I only dare to sleep at my house because I am not really afraid. Especially during the rainy season,” Ms. Chuyen said.

Like many households in Lien Hong, Ms. Chuyen's family built a house and lived here for a long time. However, since the Chi Khe hydropower plant started to accumulate water, Ms. Chuyen's house has been threatened, at risk of sliding down into the hydropower reservoir. Previously, the house was hundreds of meters from the Lam River bank, but recently, the water level is only a few meters from the house's foundation. The stilt house is also crooked, leaning towards the river.

Mrs. Chuyen's house is at risk of sliding down into Chi Khe hydroelectric reservoir. Photo: Tien Hung

Mrs. Chuyen is one of 18 households in Cam Lam commune whose houses are located close to the edge of the Chi Khe hydroelectric reservoir, which is being eroded, posing a risk of insecurity and threatening lives and property. Among them, 4 households are in the most dangerous category, unable to bear the anxiety of living in fear, and have had to move their houses. The family of Mr. Vien Van Tien (62 years old) is one of those 4 households. Mr. Tien's wooden house is located right next to Mrs. Chuyen's house. However, more than a year ago, Mr. Tien had to pay someone to dismantle and move the entire house to a higher location. The old location is now submerged under the hydroelectric reservoir.

Not only threatening housing, dozens of hectares of productive land in Cam Lam commune have also been submerged under the hydroelectric reservoir, but so far have not been measured and counted to prepare compensation records for the people. Taking reporters to the alluvial land along the Lam River, Mr. Lo Van Hien - Chairman of Cam Lam Commune People's Committee said that since Chi Khe hydroelectric plant stored water to an elevation of 38m in 2019, up to now, 84 households have filed complaints that their agricultural land has been flooded and submerged under the hydroelectric reservoir, making it impossible to produce. Most of which is land belonging to people in villages such as Lien Hong and Cong.

“Even my family, with only 2 sao of agricultural land divided according to Decree 64, has been submerged under the Chi Khe hydropower reservoir for more than 2 years now. The locality has made many requests, but up to now the investor has not measured or counted to compensate for additional compensation. Because it has not been measured or counted, it is not clear exactly how many hectares have been flooded since the Chi Khe hydropower plant stored water to an elevation of 38m, but it is estimated that there are no less than 30 hectares of agricultural land,” said Mr. Lo Van Hien.

The family of the Chairman of the People's Committee of Cam Lam commune has only 2 sao of agricultural land, all of which has sunk into the lake, but has not been measured or counted to prepare a compensation file. Photo: Tien Hung

Not only Cam Lam, in Chau Khe commune, hundreds of households have also been in a similar situation since the hydroelectric plant stored water up to 38m. A leader of Chau Khe commune said that regarding production land, there were 121 petitions from people about their production land being outside the 38m boundary but still being flooded. Of these, 63 cases have been inspected and measured since August 2019 but to date people have not received a response. The remaining 58 cases have not been inspected or measured.

“More dangerously, 20 houses have subsidence, cracks in walls, floors, barns and other ancillary structures... We have repeatedly requested inspection and assessment and have a support plan to help people feel secure and stabilize their lives, but so far it has not been carried out,” said the leader of Chau Khe commune. Similarly, in Lang Khe commune, there are also 123 households requesting authorities to inspect the landslide and flooding outside the 38m boundary. In addition to houses and production land, many traffic works are also flooded, making it difficult to travel. Even a series of graves located outside the boundary are also submerged under the hydroelectric reservoir.

Mr. Tien's family had to move to a higher location. Photo: Tien Hung

Hydropower plants do not keep their commitments

Chi Khe Hydropower Plant has a total investment of nearly 1,400 billion VND, the design elevation of the hydropower dam is 38m, the capacity of 2 units is 40 MW, and construction started in 2013. However, up to now, this hydropower plant has had to request to adjust the planning to add affected areas twice but it is still not completed.

In 2017, when the hydropower plant tested the water storage, it only reached the 36.5m elevation and flooded more than 100 hectares of people's land outside the reservoir planning. After that, Con Cuong district had to urgently issue a document requesting the hydropower plant to stop storing water to ensure the safety of the people and to adjust the planning. After adjusting and supplementing the affected area, the hydropower plant stored water to the 38m elevation and continued to create many other areas.

Initially, according to the assessment of the investor of Chi Khe hydropower reservoir, it would not affect Tuong Duong, however, dozens of hectares of land in Tam Quang commune were also recovered. Not only that, many areas of land continued to be eroded. The leader of Tuong Duong district said that since the beginning of 2022, the People's Committee of the district has issued official dispatches requesting measurement, re-determination of elevation, increasing the thickness of the reservoir border markers and providing cadastral records of the Chi Khe hydropower project. However, up to now, the investor of Chi Khe hydropower has not yet implemented and has not yet responded in writing.

After the water was filled, many land areas outside the boundary markers were also submerged into the Chi Khe hydroelectric reservoir. Photo: Tien Hung

Meanwhile, according to the investigation of Nghe An Newspaper reporter, before storing water, in 2017, the investor of Chi Khe hydropower plant, Agrita - Nghe Tinh Energy Joint Stock Company, had a written commitment: "For households in the area of ​​land, crops, houses, etc., the investor commits that after storing water to an elevation of 38m, the investor will re-measure and redraw the overall completion area of ​​the entire reservoir area to determine the recovery boundary, the flooded area of ​​each household according to the current status and prepare additional compensation records for people if there is a missing area, correct and sufficient according to regulations".

“For households at risk of landslides due to water storage for power generation: the investor commits that if any household suffers a landslide due to hydroelectric power plant water storage affecting land and property…, after water storage, the investor and the Compensation Council will inspect, prepare documents and provide adequate additional compensation to the people,” the commitment signed by General Director Pham Ngoc Thanh stated.

However, up to now, despite hundreds of households in Cam Lam, Chau Khe, Lang Khe communes, etc., as well as the local authorities' repeated petitions, the investor still has not fulfilled its commitment.

A house on Chi Khe hydroelectric reservoir. Photo: Tien Hung

Mr. Hoang Sy Kien - Chairman of the People's Committee of Con Cuong district said that the reason for the shortcomings and limitations in the site clearance work of the Chi Khe hydropower project is that the investor did not accurately assess the level of impact of the project on land users. The site clearance planning scope changed many times, leading to having to request many adjustments; the excerpts and measurements of the investor's cadastral map were in many places inconsistent with the actual land use of the people, leading to having to re-measure...

Recently, Con Cuong district has continued to request the investor of Chi Khe Hydropower Plant project to coordinate in timely implementing the contents related to the legitimate rights of the people, in which it is recommended to focus on implementing some contents immediately. Specifically, coordinate with relevant units to urgently approve the area arising outside the clearance boundary after storing water to the elevation of 38 m, to carry out additional compensation work; support and compensate affected households with remaining area of ​​less than 100 m²when there is an approved plan from the District People's Committee...