With regard to the recent serious river bank landslides, experts have warned that if sand mining continues, the situation will become worse.

A landslide hits a stretch of the Co Chien River in Tra Vinh Province

A report of the Steering Committee for Climate Change Response, Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue of Dong Thap Province showed that since early 2017, there have been 13 landslides in the province, sweeping away a total area of 5,924 square meters.

In An Giang, severe landslides have occurred in many parts of the province this year. Notably, the sinking of a section of the Vam Nao River in Cho Moi District plunged dozens of houses into the river last month.

Meanwhile, the latest report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) showed that the whole Mekong River Delta has suffered 406 landslides with a total length of 891 kilometers, including 393 river bank erosions with a total length of 583 kilometers and 13 coastal erosions along a total length of more than 300 kilometers.

Speaking to the Daily, Le Anh Tuan of Can Tho University said landslides are common in the Mekong River in the dry season, especially in An Giang Province. However, according to Tuan, it is the sand mining that has caused landslides to increase.

At the meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung and the authorities of Mekong Delta’s localities in An Giang Province on May 15, experts said that there are many causes leading to landslides in recent times, including the construction of reservoirs in the upstream of the Mekong River and the overexploitation of sand in the river-bed as well as the coastal areas.

A report of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research showed that in 2013, the total volume of silt on rivers in the Mekong Delta was about three million cubic meters while the total amount of sand bumped was 28 million cubic meters.

Speaking to the Daily last August, environmentalist Nguyen Huu Thien said due to the construction of hydroelectric dams on the Mekong River’s mainstream, silt in the Mekong River Delta has decreased significantly, putting the delta at risk of vanishing within 100 years.

A study by the National University of Singapore on the impacts of China’s Manwan hydropower dam showed that the amount of silt from the upper Mekong River flowing into the Mekong Delta dipped to 75 million tons per year compared to the previous 160 million tons since the dam was put into operation.

According to Tuan of Can Tho University, to reduce landslides, sand mining should be restricted or even suspended and trees should be planted in high-risk areas.

SGT