Flood discharge from hydroelectric plants heats up regular meeting of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee

Meeting scene. Photo: Dao Tuan

Budget revenue is still lower than estimated.

At this meeting, the Provincial People's Committee listened to and commented on 10 contents, including reports on the implementation of administrative reform and information technology application in the province; results of the implementation of the socio-economic development plan, budget estimate for August, tasks and solutions for September; Draft Action Program to implement Resolution No. 23-NQ/TW dated March 22, 2018 of the Politburo on orientations for building national industrial development policies to 2030, with a vision to 2045; results of the implementation of the autonomy plan, self-responsibility for performing tasks, organization, personnel, finance of public medical examination and treatment facilities, etc.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, chaired the meeting. Photo: Dao Tuan

Speaking at the meeting, comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong asked delegates to focus on discussing the work of overcoming the consequences of floods and storms, especially after storm No. 4. Comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong also said that up to this point, many damaged schools have not been repaired, affecting the activities of the new school year; the traffic system and technical infrastructure are still eroded and blocked at many points. Appreciating the localities for proactively mobilizing forces to participate in rescue and actively limit the damage caused by floods and storms, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also requested the Departments and branches to analyze and clarify the causes and lessons in flood prevention, especially the work of overcoming storm No. 4.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong requested departments, branches and sectors to focus on overcoming the consequences of floods. Photo: Dao Tuan

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong also requested units to study and evaluate the budget collection work in August. Accordingly, although the budget collection in August increased compared to the same period, it was still lower than the estimate. In addition, the progress of investment promotion was still slow, especially related to administrative procedures and project recovery; administrative reform work in some agencies was not good...

Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development spoke at the meeting. Photo: Dao Tuan

Does hydroelectric dam discharge cause flooding?

Participating in the first discussion at the meeting, Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the agricultural production area was covered in the summer-autumn crop, however, in July and August, there were two storms that greatly affected the production activities of the localities.

In particular, the circulation of storm No. 4 caused heavy rain in the western region of Nghe An, causing floods and inundation in many areas. Mr. Hieu informed that 5,100 hectares of rice and crops of the people were flooded, about 300 - 500 hectares of rice of the mountainous people were buried by mud and soil, requiring time to recover. There were 6 deaths due to floods, the total estimated damage was nearly 800 billion VND. To proactively monitor the weather situation, Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu said that he had asked the Government to support the construction of a hydrometeorological observation station in the mountainous area.

Affirming that the flooding was caused by hydroelectric power plants and projects, Mr. Hoang Trong Kim - Director of the Department of Construction said that after each natural disaster, there should be a detailed assessment and report of the damage to both technical and social infrastructure on that basis to propose immediate and long-term solutions. The Director of the Department of Construction of Nghe An also proposed to survey the operating procedures of irrigation and hydroelectric reservoirs. According to Mr. Hoang Trong Kim, it is necessary to check the operating procedures of inter-reservoir flood discharge, because this is the key to easily causing floods when there is a lack of synchronous coordination.

Mr. Hoang Van Tam - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade said that the flood discharge operations of hydroelectric plants in recent days were not the cause of the floods. Photo: Dao Tuan

Discussing this issue, Mr. Hoang Van Tam - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade affirmed that the activities of the Ban Ve Hydropower Plant in recent days were not the cause of flooding and inundation. Mr. Tam said that the hydropower plants along National Highway 7 were built on terraced terrain, of which only the Ban Ve Hydropower Plant was designed to cut floods downstream. To prove his assertion, Mr. Hoang Van Tam said that if the Ban Ve Hydropower Plant had not cut floods by 70% recently, the downstream districts and deltas would have been severely flooded.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Luong Thanh Hai - Head of the Provincial Ethnic Minorities Committee said that it is necessary to distinguish between flood discharge and normal flood. "Flood discharge is like a dam break, while normal flood rises slowly. Therefore, those behind the dam when releasing flood will be affected immediately" - Mr. Hai affirmed and added: "If Khe Bo Hydropower Plant releases all gates according to design, the water level downstream will rise 13m, just now it has not reached 13m but it has flooded the entire National Highway 7 by more than 2m. It must be affirmed that hydropower projects and the recent flood are related"

Regarding flood forecasting solutions, Mr. Hai said that Vietnamese scientists are fully capable of building a hydrological system on dams and mountain river areas, based on the systems that the French implemented in the early 20th century. If this can be done, hydroelectric dams will be able to determine when to store water, what limit to release water, how much to release... thereby reducing damage.

Comrade Le Minh Thong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee spoke at the meeting. Photo: Dao Tuan

Regarding this issue, Director of the Department of Science and Technology Tran Quoc Thanh said that for a long time, there have been studies on flood warnings in the Lam River basin and software to calculate flood intensity, flood levels, and flood discharge plans. Therefore, Mr. Tran Quoc Thanh suggested that the province have a mechanism to require investors, owners of hydropower projects, large dams to build rain gauges, hydrology stations, and install the above warning system to be proactive in the operation process.

Agreeing with this view, Colonel Tran Van Hung - Commander of the Provincial Military Command also proposed that the province should also research and install an early warning and monitoring system in the Western region, especially a hydrometeorological agency, and at the same time forecast the weather in Laos - the border area adjacent to our province to proactively prevent and combat floods.

Will check in detail the flood discharge process of hydropower plants

At the meeting, there were 16 opinions reflecting, debating and proposing solutions on the operation of hydropower plants, the flood situation and the work to overcome the consequences of floods. In which, the majority of delegates requested the province to soon have a mechanism to support localities to restore production and stabilize people's lives.

Speaking on this content, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong said that the Provincial People's Committee has assigned comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to organize 2 inspection teams to accurately assess the situation.

One group monitors and tracks the flood discharge operation process of hydropower plants, especially Ban Ve Hydropower Plant. Based on that, it is determined whether the plants are following the correct process or not and learns from it for the next time. "We even have to check the flood discharge operation log" - Comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong affirmed.

The remaining team, according to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, will conduct inspections and determine the level of damage that needs support, and the province will also provide early support to localities affected by floods, especially the districts of Tuong Duong, Ky Son, Con Cuong, Anh Son, and Nghia Dan.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong - Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested the Department of Finance to balance resources to have a mechanism to support localities to overcome the consequences of floods. Photo: Dao Tuan

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong requested the Department of Finance to soon have a solution to balance the budget to support localities, possibly advance funds and, if necessary, use the 2018 reserve budget to help localities and people overcome the consequences of storms and floods.

Also on the morning of August 23, the Provincial People's Committee listened to and gave opinions on many contents, including participating in evaluating the results of implementing the socio-economic development plan in August and tasks and solutions in September. Delegates also enthusiastically discussed the Draft Action Program to implement Resolution No. 23-NQ/TW dated March 22, 2018 of the Politburo on orientations for building national industrial development policies to 2030, with a vision to 2045 and the Provincial Department of Health reported on the results of implementing the plan for autonomy and self-responsibility for performing tasks, organizing the apparatus, personnel, and finance of public medical examination and treatment facilities...