Ca Mau dyke network seeing severe subsidence (Photo: VNA)

The provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development announced on May 3 that subsidence has occurred on a 1,010-metre-long stretch of dyke in Khanh Tien’s Hamlet 7 and two others 560 metres and 100 metres in length in Hamlet 8.

The U Minh District People’s Committee has directed relevant agencies and Khanh Tien authorities to erect warning signs at these sites.

Earlier, 240 metres of the Da Bac-Kenh Moi dyke in Ca Mau’s Tran Van Thoi district also subsided, with the affected length exceeding 4,000 metres, according to the department.

Facing serious subsidence along the dyke network, provincial authorities have ordered that urgent projects dealing with the phenomenon be accelerated before the wet season arrives and that the construction of natural disaster mitigation facilities be sped up.

U Minh and Tran Van Thoi districts have also been asked to work with relevant agencies to handle any further problems with dyke networks.

The dyke network in Ca Mau facing the Gulf of Thailand is about 108 km long and straddles U Minh, Tran Van Thoi, and Phu Tan districts. Aside from its strategic location in terms of defence and security, it also keeps saltwater intrusion from impacting about 26,000 households and 129,000 ha of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries land.

The effects of adverse weather, especially extreme drought, have caused erosion and subsidence along the dyke network in recent years, triggering the declaration of a state of emergency for some sections so an urgent response can be made./.VNA