Residents living along the Cho Gao Canal in Tien Giang Province are constantly having to face the threat of landslides, while the government has done little to implement a landslide prevention plan started four years ago.
The 28.5 kilometre Cho Gao Canal is the only waterway connecting Vam Co and Tien Rivers and Dong Nai and Mekong Rivers.
Over 1,000 boats travel on the canal each day, which has been under neglect and facing perpetual landslides along its banks for the last several years.
The situation has worsened in communes like Tan Thuan Binh, Quon Long, Binh Phuc Nhut in Cho Gao District and Dong Son Commune in Go Cong Tay District, where 2-3 metres of the canal bank slips into the water each year. Long Thanh Hamlet in Quon Long Commune is losing upto four metres in places.
Landslides are threatening people’s lives as roads along both sides of the canal are now badly eroded, more so in the rainy season.
Cho Gao Canal has over 150 landslide spots, several of which have already seen 1-3 metres of road slip into the river.
According to the Department of Transport in Tien Giang Province, the Ministry of Transport was expected to begin the landslide prevention project in 2008, but until now it has not taken off.
Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, deputy director of the department said that they have proposed to the provincial People’s Committee to give financial assistance to relocate 42 households in serious threat from landslides.
