Handling and thoroughly preventing violations of encroachment on irrigation canals

Many violations of encroachment on irrigation canals

At the end of July, the rice fields in Hung Nguyen have begun to prepare for a new crop season. During this time, the heat has lasted for quite a long time, with some days above 37-38 degrees Celsius, causing the water level in canals and dams to begin to decrease. However, thanks to the timely operation of the irrigation canal system, the crop progress is still guaranteed. The same goes for the fields in the communes of Hung Thong, Hung Tan, Long Xa... thanks to the 12/9 irrigation canal ensuring irrigation for a large area, the crops here are almost stable. The 12/9 irrigation canal is a pumping canal that helps transfer water from the Lam River to the fields through the two pumping stations of Bai Cat and Cho Thong. The amount of water transferred from Canal 12/9 helps supply water during droughts and drain water during floods to serve crop production for more than 140 hectares of agricultural land in hamlets in Hung Thong commune such as Hong Ha, Hong Linh, Hong Thai, other hamlets in Hung Tan commune, Long Xa commune, etc. In addition, Canal 12/9 also connects with Canal T3 to expand the scope of irrigation services for other fields in the southern region of Hung Nguyen district. Therefore, along the length of Canal 12/9, in addition to connecting irrigation pumping stations, many flood discharge sluices are also installed to ensure irrigation function.

Irrigation canal 12/9 (right) through Hung Thong commune, Hung Nguyen has 22 illegally built kiosks within the canal's safety zone. Photo: Hoai Thu

Also because of this importance, if the 12/9 canal is obstructed, it will greatly affect the crop production efficiency of many households and localities. Mr. Bui Le Duan - Vice Chairman of Hung Thong Commune People's Committee said that currently, right on both sides of the flood discharge sluice of 12/9 canal in front of Hung Thong Commune People's Committee connecting with Le Xuan Dao canal, there are many houses and shops of people encroaching on the canal bed for many years. At this location, in addition to the obstruction of solid concrete piles planted in the canal bed, there are also many bushes and grass growing crowded into the canal, causing a long section to be at risk of being blocked.

Regarding the violation of the safety corridor of the 12/9 canal, since the early 2000s, households in Hung Thong have been building kiosks encroaching on the canal for business purposes. “This situation has lasted from 2000 until now, the government has repeatedly propagated and mobilized but has not yet been able to resolve it due to a number of difficulties and inadequacies. Some households have accepted the clearance with a certain level of support, but many households have not accepted it even though the commune has built business kiosks in Hung Thong market to relocate households whose kiosks encroached on the 12/9 canal” - Mr. Bui Le Duan said.

22 illegal stalls built on Canal 12/9 in Hung Thong Hung Nguyen cause water flow blockage, affecting irrigation. Photo taken on August 3, 2022. Photo: Hoai Thu

Mr. Duẩn also added that although 22 kiosks encroaching on the 12/9 irrigation canal have not been cleared due to historical reasons, in July 2022, there were 4 cases of stalls encroaching on the 12/9 canal that were discovered and promptly stopped by the people and the authorities. Specifically, 3 households that set up stalls on the canal bank have now continued to gather materials and weld corrugated iron roofs encroaching on the traffic safety corridor; 1 household that gathered iron poles to prepare to lay planks as a foundation to set up stalls was also discovered and administratively fined, requiring an end to the act of encroaching on the safety corridor of the 12/9 irrigation canal.

If in Hung Thong, from 2019 to now, the government has been making efforts to prevent new violations of encroachment on irrigation canals, then in Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, the violations are still happening with an increasing trend. Violations such as building houses and shops within the protection area of ​​Vach Bac irrigation canal through Do Thanh commune have been happening since 2017. According to the report of Yen Thanh district People's Committee, from 83 households violating in 2017, by 2022 that number has increased to 238 households.

The Vach Bac flood drainage canal system in Yen Thanh district was built in the 1980s, over 20 km long, flowing from Yen Thanh to Lach Van (Dien Chau). This irrigation canal system is responsible for flood drainage for the 8 Northwestern communes of Yen Thanh district and over 250 km²agricultural and residential land, including 12,000 hectares of agricultural land in Dien Chau and Yen Thanh districts. Vach Bac canal is an important flood control belt for tens of thousands of hectares of agricultural land in Yen Thanh and Dien Chau districts. This also means that if the flow system of Vach Bac canal is affected or encroached, it will seriously affect the irrigation work serving agricultural production for a large area of ​​Yen Thanh and Dien Chau districts.

Households in Do Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) have illegally encroached and built houses on Vach Bac canal since the beginning of 2020. Photo courtesy of Nguyen Vu

And the sad reality is that in the first months of 2022, encroachment and violations of the Vach Bac canal still occurred. Most recently, on May 3, 2022, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dat's household in Gia My hamlet, Do Thanh commune and 8 other cases were recorded by the People's Committee of Do Thanh commune, sanctioned for administrative violations of digging foundations, installing formwork, pouring concrete for embankment foundations, and illegally building bridges on the roof land in the Vach Bac canal section through Do Thanh commune. From January 1, 2022 to June 25, 2022, the People's Committee of Do Thanh commune issued 09 decisions to sanction administrative violations in the field of irrigation, including Mr. Nguyen Tien Dat's household and many other households with similar violations such as Pham Van Lanh, Le Van Thuy, Ho Van Tu, Hoang Quoc Huong, Vo Thi Lien...

Needhandlestop and prevent new violations

Violations of encroachment on irrigation canals not only affect the irrigation system serving agricultural production, but also seriously affect the compliance with policies and laws of local people, making it difficult to propagate the policies and guidelines of the Party and State when violations are not only not handled, but also continue to be committed as in Do Thanh. That is also the reason why the direction to thoroughly handle violations of the safety protection of irrigation works is always regularly directed by the Provincial People's Committee. Most recently, in Document 5057/UBND-NN, the Provincial People's Committee requested all levels and sectors in Nghe An province, in addition to strongly implementing the dissemination and propaganda of legal regulations on irrigation, to strengthen inspection and examination work, promptly detect and prevent violations.

Some administrative penalty records of Do Thanh Commune People's Committee against citizens who illegally built works on Vach Bac canal. Photo: HT

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nghe An Irrigation Sub-Department, in the second quarter of 2022, although the situation of violations of the law on safety protection of irrigation works has tended to decrease, there are still many violations in recent years that have not been completely handled. For example, building houses within the protection area of ​​Vinh River in Vinh City; households encroaching and building houses within the protection area of ​​Vach Bac drainage canal and N18A canal in Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district... Or like in Quynh Luu district, recently the district Irrigation Enterprise has also discovered 23 "black spots" which are irrigation canals with waste dumping causing stagnant water flow, affecting seasonal irrigation.

The leader of Nghe An Irrigation Sub-Department said that in 2021, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development directed the Irrigation Sub-Department to establish 05 working groups to conduct specialized inspections and examinations, including 3 specialized inspections on compliance with the law on irrigation, dykes and natural disaster prevention; 2 surprise inspections on compliance with the law on dykes on the Ta Lam dyke section passing through Nam Dan and Hung Nguyen districts, and the section passing through Ben Thuy ward, Vinh city. Regarding specialized inspections, in the second quarter of 2021, Nghe An Irrigation Sub-Department conducted an inspection at the irrigation at Nam Nghe An Irrigation One Member Co., Ltd., the inspection period from 2018 to the time of inspection. The results showed that the total number of violations pending from before December 31, 2017 was 369 cases, of which 23 cases were being handled, 364 cases had not been handled.

Through inspection and handling of violations, it is shown that the main violations are discharging domestic wastewater into irrigation works.,obstructing the flow of irrigation works, planting trees on canal banks, building fences, building houses and other works within the protection range of irrigation canals. Also through understanding the situation of violations, the authorities said that the main cause of violations is that some irrigation works are located close to residential areas, combined with low awareness of the people; the local authorities are not resolute. In addition, inter-sectoral coordination in inspection, detection and handling of violations is not synchronous. Some violations such as those in the Vach Bac drainage canal and the N18A canal in Do Thanh commune... have not been thoroughly resolved due to historical reasons, and due to the lack of legal understanding of the people, the lack of determination of the local authorities leading to the situation of violations occurring complicatedly and for a long time.

However, although many violations originate from causes that are difficult to resolve, due to historical reasons or legal regulations, limited resources..., all levels and sectors need to have specific recommendations and solutions to detect, prevent and promptly and thoroughly handle violations. Currently, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is continuing to complete the Draft on "Regulations on decentralization of management, exploitation, protection of irrigation works and irrigation service delivery points in Nghe An province; Decision to promulgate the Regulation on coordination between sectors and levels in the work of preventing and handling violations of the law on irrigation; dykes; natural disaster prevention and control in Nghe An province to submit to competent authorities for appraisal and approval...

Quynh Luu district cleans up garbage that has been dumped and is causing congestion and blockage in irrigation canals. Photo courtesy of Quang An.

When these documents are passed, they will create additional legal corridors for all levels and sectors to increase the effectiveness of detecting and handling violations in protecting the safety of irrigation works in the province, keeping the "blood vessels" that nourish the fields for bumper crops open.