VietNamNet Bridge - Many hydroelectric power projects in the Central Highlands are believed to cause adverse effects on the environment while the management is too loose.

The pipe of Dam Bol hydroelectric plant in Bao Lam District, Lam Dong province, was broken in June 2011, killing one kid and injuring three others.

On July 22, at the meeting to review operation in the first half of 2013, the Central Highlands Steering Committee asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to review the hydro-power development planning to reject more hydroelectric projects which can harm the environment and to stop building new hydropower plants in the Central Highlands in 2013-2014 to deal with environmental consequences.

As reported at the conference, the Central Highlands has had to devote 80,000 hectares of land for the construction of hydropower plants. The remediation of environmental consequences is slow, with only 757 hectares of forest being planted compared with 22,770 ha of forest that were converted for the purpose of building hydropower projects.

The Central Highlands has 118 hydropower projects that have been completed and put into operation with a total capacity of 98MW and 75 hydropower projects that are under construction.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the provinces in the region have eliminated 155 hydropower projects and 72 potential locations for building hydropower plants. However, the Steering Committee of the Central Highlands proposed to reject more hydropower projects in order to avoid negative consequences on the environment.

The management of the quality of small and medium hydropower plants in the Central Highlands is said to be loose, causing many serious incidents.

Hundreds of households have not been allocated with land for production. The construction of infrastructure in resettlement areas for local people has been carried out very slowly. The afforestation to compensate environmental consequences caused by hydropower projects is also at snail pace.

Le Ha