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Cascading soil and rocks bury cars on the road to Ban Tien Lake in Hanoi yesterday |
Chairpersons of municipal and provincial people's committees are responsible to the Prime Minister if they are relaxing their management resulting in loss of human life and damage to property of local residents and government due to dam-break flood, according to the Prime Minister’s official dispatch No. 725.
This morning, the Standing Office of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said that northern provinces of Dien Bien, Cao Bang, Yen Bai, Bac Kan, Hoa Binh, Lao Cai, Hanoi, central highlands provinces of Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Lam Dong, and southern provinces of Ben Tre, Dong Nai, Ca Mau, Tra Vinh reported that floods and landslides continued to take place in many places from August 1 to 4, causing damages and losses.
Worse, Dak Nong Province reported one death and one missing due to heavy rains these days. Permanent resident Ho Trong Sinh in Dak Mil District was swept away by water while wading through the stream. His body was found. Moreover, a 42-year-old resident in Tan Ha Commune of Lam Dong Province’s Lam Ha District slipped into a stream on the way home from work. His body has not been found.
Flooding also damaged 99 houses and submerged 288 houses; plus, 8,876.34ha of rice and crops were devastated. Floods have eroded 8,382 cubic meters of soil and stones on rural roads in the northern provinces of Dien Bien, Hoa Binh and Lao Cai and destroyed 3,259m of irrigation canals in Dien Bien Province.
In addition, a bridge in Lam Dong Province was swept away and two sewers in Dien Bien and Gia Lai provinces were damaged.
Binh Thuan Province reported that Tuy Phong District has three coastal landslides with a length of 140 meters. Currently, the local government has mobilized inhabitants and police officers to temporarily reinforce the landslide areas with sandbags. A warning sign was put up to warn people of danger.
This morning, the Standing Office of the National Steering Committee also said that the Prime Minister’s dispatch No. 725 urged local governments in central highlands provinces to cope with floods, subsidence, and landslides, and ensure the safety of dams and reservoirs.
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Serious subsidence in Lam Dong Province |
Through yesterday’s report of the People's Committee of Lam Dong Province and some mass media, PM knew that in the past few days, the Central Highlands region continued to experience heavy rain resulting in land subsidence and landslides in many places, affecting residential areas and traffic works, especially subsidence and landslides in the construction area of Dong Thanh reservoir in Dong Thanh Commune of Lam Dong Province and Dak N'Ting reservoir in Dak G'long District of Dak Nong Province.
Therefore, the Prime Minister requested the Chairman of the People's Committees of Lam Dong, Dak Nong and other localities in the Central Highlands region to send men to areas at risk of landslides and subsidence for the safety of local inhabitants and the safety of dams.
Chairpersons of municipal and provincial people's committees are responsible to the Prime Minister if he is irresponsible to cause an unsafe incident in reservoirs and dams, causing damage to the lives and properties of dwellers and the government, the official dispatch said.
The official also requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to assign a deputy minister to work with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Construction for the prevention of natural disasters in the Central Highlands, especially paying attention to the safety of local residents and lakes and dams. Experienced experts must arrive in Lam Dong and Dak Nong provinces to study and evaluate the safety of Dong Thanh and Dak N'Ting reservoirs from which to have appropriate measures for the safety of people.
