Conference looks to fight coastal erosion in Vietnam's Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta province works to prevent coastal erosion
Mekong Delta erosion incidents increase

Erosion along a bank of the O Mon River in Can Tho City. VNS File Photo/TTXVN

According to figures released at a conference on solutions for landslides along coasts, river banks and embankments in the delta held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Ca Mau in April, there have been 562 cases in the region involving a total length of 786km.

Every year 300-500ha of land are lost to water.

Reports from the Long An Province Committee for Disaster Prevention and Fighting show that in the first half of this year eight houses were destroyed and seven others toppled into the Vam Co Tay River.

Provincial authorities have asked the Government for funds for urgent tasks such as a 300m embankment along a section of the Vam Co Tay in Loi Binh Nhon Commune in Tan An Town, an embankment in Nhut Ninh Commune in Tan Tru District and resettling 138 households in Thanh Vinh Dong Commune in Chau Thanh District.

A delegation from An Giang Province led by People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen Thanh Binh inspected a section of National Highway No 91 in Binh My Commune, Chau Phu District, which faces the risk of sliding into the Hau River.

Binh instructed relevant authorities in the district and commune to move people living in the area to safety and instal traffic signs to warn drivers of the danger.

According to the Ca Mau Province People’s Committee, 105km of coast in both the eastern and western parts face the risk of landslides.

The eastern coast loses 50-100 metres to the sea and the western coast, 20-50 metres.

The landslides also cause Ca Mau to lose vast areas of protective forests and take away job opportunities.

Le Minh Luan, who lives in the Bo De Estuary in Tam Giang Dong Commune of Nam Can District, said 20 years ago his family was among those living in a hamlet some 200m from the sea.

But the sea eroded the area in the last few years and all households in the hamlet were forced to evacuate, he said.

The place was so badly affected that his family in fact had to evacuate twice in the last three years.

VNS.