VietNamNet Bridge – Though the storm season has not arrived, the residents in the central provinces are already worried about soil erosion has put them in danger.

All the provinces in the central region have been affected by soil erosion for many years. The sea has encroached by tens of meters on the mainland, threatening construction works, roads and people’s lives.

Hoi An ancient town, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1999, has also been put in danger. There are three main blocks in Hoi An town, including the Bach Dang road, close to the Hoai River on the lower course of Thu Bon River, which are inundated during the flooding season.

The river embankment system along Bach Dang Road, 900 meters in length, from the Hoi An Market to Cau Pagoda, built in 1967, has seriously degraded, and therefore, cannot protect the area from flooding.

Locals said they can see signs of cracking on the Bach Dang Road, fearing that the houses on the road would be eliminated one day.

Hoi An’s people have been trying to prevent landslides by driving in bamboo stakes. However, in the rainy season, the swift-flowing river water will sweep the stakes away.  

“We live in constant anxiety that the flood will sweep away our houses,” said Huynh Thi Trinh, owner of a house at No 11 Bach Dang Road.

Local authorities, who are aware of the danger, have drawn up many large-scale projects on resident resettlement and dyke setting. However, it is still unclear when the projects will be implemented.

Tran Van Tri, director of the Quang Nam provincial Planning and Investment Department, said the Quang Nam provincial authorities submitted to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) a proposal on a project to build a dyke system in Hoi An.

However, the project has not been approved. Hoi An remains in danger of being flooded by the Thu Bon River in the flood season.

Ten years ago, Cua Dai sea in Hoi An was considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the central region with the sandy bank spreading by 300 meters from the edge of the road to the edge of the sea. However, the beach totally disappeared as it has been “swallowed” by sea water.

In the Tam Hai island commune in Nui Thanh District, the solid embankment section with the length of two kilometers, built in 2012, was broken by strong sea waves.

Tam Hai’s locals said that just over the last five years, the sea has encroached by more than 50 meters on the mainland, having eliminated all the protective forests.

In Thuan An Hamlet of Tam Hai commune, the local authorities have relocated over 200 households amid soil erosion.

Thien Nhien