Many families in the Mekong Delta are living in fear of the increasing occurrence of landslides in areas along rivers which might swallow their homes at any moment.
Of which, many areas in Long An, Tien Giang, Hau Giang, Dong Thap and An Giang provinces have suffered from river bank erosion and landslides all year round, seriously affecting people’s lives.
In order to continue implementing anti-landslide projects in 2023 and the following years, the Standing Office of the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and Search and Rescue of Long An province proposed the Central allocate budget from medium-term public investment capital for the phase of 2023 to 2025 to support the provinces in implementing urgent anti-landslide embankment projects.
On July 17, the Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control and Search and Rescue of Hau Giang Province said that the circulation of storm Talim triggered downpours and thunderstorms in large scale of Hau Giang Province, resulting in collapsed houses and damaged house roofs in Long My, Phung Hiep, Vi Thuy districts, Long My Town and Vi Thanh City, with a total of damage estimated at VND262 million (US$11,068).
In An Giang Province, functional agencies are reviewing, monitoring and updating loss from river bank erosion and landslides over Cho Moi and Chau Phu districts.
In the recent few days, Chau Phu, Cho Moi and Thoai Son districts have recorded five riverbank erosion cases. Since the beginning of this year, the whole province has recorded at least 45 landslide-hit areas, three times higher than the same period in 2022.
An Giang and Dong Thap are located in the two watersheds of the Tien and Hau Rivers with the most severe landslides in the Mekong Delta. At the end of October 2022, a working delegation of experts and scientists performed a survey and determined that the landslide situation in the Mekong Delta has become more and more serious.
Currently, the two localities give priorities to afforestation and riverbank reinforcement among solutions to cope with erosions and landslides.
Some photos captured at some landslide-hit areas:
By Ngoc Phuc, Vinh Tuong, Quoc Binh- Translated by Huyen Huong
