VietNamNet Bridge – Authorities in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces are taking several measures to deal with the growing problem of land erosion in a region crisscrossed by thousands of rivers and canals.

Can Tho City's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said landmarks are being planted at vulnerable sites to warn residents and a plan is being prepared to evacuate residents from erosion prone areas.

By 2015, the city will resettle 40 per cent of the families that live on river and canal banks in new urban zones, it added.

A report by the General Department of Environment under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shows that Dong Thap Province has at least 100 river and canal sections where the threat of collapse is high.

The report puts the number of erosion-prone sites in An Giang and Hau Giang provinces at 56 and 55 respectively. These provinces have said they also planned to evacuate people and shore up river and canal banks with concrete.

In Chau Thanh District, a land erosion hotspot in Tien Giang Province, local authorities have developed three new residential areas to resettle families. But local officials said they did not have the budget to build dykes.

The problem of land erosion has gained greater urgency with recent collapses claiming human lives and destroying property.

In Can Tho, the collapse of a market section on May 9 killed two vendors and injured five people. In An Giang, a landslide on National Highway 91 last year blocked traffic for nearly one week.

Experts have said that the main reasons for increasing land erosion are the low volume of water in rivers and canals, over-exploitation of sand, and weak dyke systems.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News