VietNamNet Bridge – Chairman of the National Assembly Office Tran Dinh Dan, former Party Secretary of the central province of Nghe An, said that besides downpours, floods in the central provinces were partly caused by hydro-power and transport works.

Talking with correspondents on the sideline of the National Assembly session in Hanoi on October 20, Dan confirmed that hydro-power and transport works made changes to the natural flows, which resulted in slow drainage of flood water to the sea.

Dan remarked that the construction of the Ho Chi Minh Highway and some other roads in the central provinces of Nghe An, Quang Binh and Ha Tinh, has affected water drainage from the upstream forest to the sea.

According to him, the National Highway 1, which is located between the plain and the sea, was lifted highly. Some river dikes were also very high. This hinders the water from the forest, from running to the sea.

Because of the construction of hydro-power plants, a vast area of forest was cut down, which resulted in flash flood.

“During the flash flood of 2002, I was chairman of Ha Tinh province, and witnessed flood in some areas caused by the construction of the Ho Chi Minh Highway. I asked the Ministry of Transport to expand some sewers. However, flood water was still strong and broke them down. This proved that our transport system is not good,” Dan said.

“I’m not an expert in hydro power and transport but I have witnessed floods. Where water couldn’t run naturally, I think hydro power projects are the reason,” he added.

Dan cited an example: “The Ke Go reservoir with a capacity of 320 million cubic meters was built in 1976. Since it is located on the height of 32m over the sea, if it breaks, entire Ha Tinh city will be inundated. The state had to strengthen the construction of this reservoir. Recently, when the reservoir discharged water for several days, Ha Tinh was flooded”.

He also said that if the Ho Ho dam in Huong Khe district, Ha Tinh province, breaks, thousands of people will die and losses will be hundreds of times higher than the value of the project itself.

He said the central and local governments must think it through very carefully before building hydro-power plants in the central region.

The government should review hydro-power projects in the central region and cancel ongoing projects like Ho Ho dam and Huong Son hydro-power projects.

Noted by Lan Anh