Hai Duong proactively handles dike incidents

Concerns after the flood

In mid-September, the water level of Kinh Thay River exceeded the alarm level III at many times. When the flood receded, a serious landslide occurred on the right bank of Kinh Thay River through Nam Hung Commune (Nam Sach). The landslide was 20 m long, 7 m deep into the bank, about 4.7 m deep, and the closest point was 34.5 m from the foot of the riverside dike. Although the incident was still outside the dike protection corridor, it posed a very high risk of insecurity for the dike. The cause was that the location of the incident was only about 100 m downstream from Ninh Xa embankment. While Ninh Xa embankment is close to the foot of the dike, many embankment locations are dike slopes, with no riverbank to protect them. On the other hand, the incident was on the eroded bank, the current pressed close, pushing straight into the bank. Currently, there are many cracks appearing on the surface of the bank, so it is likely to continue to develop complicatedly in the coming time.

Mr. Tran Duy Khuyen, the dike controller in charge of the route (Nam Sach Dike Management Department) said: “As soon as the incident was detected, the unit demarcated the dangerous area, placed warning flags and notified the surrounding households. At the same time, forces were organized to regularly patrol, guard, and closely monitor the landslide site to promptly inform the competent authorities. This landslide site needs to be promptly handled by construction measures such as dropping stone dragons to protect the foot, and laying precast concrete slabs in a reinforced concrete beam frame system to ensure the safety of the dike route.”

Also during the recent flood, on the left bank of Kinh Mon River in Long Xuyen Ward (Kinh Mon), there was a landslide on the dike on the field side. The landslide was more than 40 meters long, encroaching on the dike body while the flood water on the river rose to a historic high. To handle the incident, in addition to the shock troops, the locality mobilized 300 people and 60 soldiers from the armed forces to plant single piles, put up bamboo fences, and build sandbags. Due to the relatively complicated incident, it took nearly a day to fix it.

According to Mr. Pham Van Giang, Party Secretary and Chairman of Long Xuyen Ward, the incident occurred at a very critical time. The rain lasted for days, the flood exceeded the third alarm level, and the dike body was saturated with water. Meanwhile, in the inner field, the irrigation ditch for production was dug close to the foot of the dike, and the slope of the dike was steep, causing landslides. "Although it was handled from the first hour, this incident can still pose a safety risk, putting pressure on local disaster prevention work. We hope this incident will be resolved completely to ensure peace of mind during the upcoming rainy and stormy seasons," said Mr. Giang.

10 dike incidents need to be resolved soon

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Hai Duong has a fairly dense river density including the Thai Binh River and Luoc River systems. Therefore, the province's dike system is also relatively large, with the task of protecting the safety of people's lives and property and more than 150,000 hectares of urban and rural areas. Of which, more than 100,000 hectares are for agricultural production.

From September 7-18, 2024, storm No. 3 and its circulation caused heavy rain and floods in the province. The Thai Binh river system exceeded the water level alarm level III, the highest in the past 28 years. In particular, some rivers in the downstream area such as the Gua and Kinh Mon rivers, the water level exceeded the historical mark of 1996. Meanwhile, the flood on the Luoc river exceeded the level alarm level II.

Because the dike system in Hai Duong has not been affected by major floods for many years, the recent floods have caused serious impacts, directly threatening the safety of many dike routes. The whole province has about 410 bamboo bushes that have tilted and fallen. Rain and storms have also caused 269 incidents of seepage, extrusion, leaks through the dike body, local overflows, dike slope landslides, culvert leaks, water leaks through culvert cracks, and 35 headquarters, flood and storm prevention clusters, and dike guard posts have been damaged. The incidents were detected early and basically handled promptly from the first hour according to the "4 on-site" motto. However, in the long term, investment is still needed to repair and upgrade some key locations to ensure the safety of the dike system and improve disaster prevention capacity.

According to the assessment of professional agencies, Hai Duong needs to promptly handle 10 dike incidents in Thanh Ha, Tu Ky, Nam Sach districts, Kinh Mon town and Chi Linh city with an estimated budget of about 130 billion VND. These are incidents that need to be handled immediately and completed before next year's storm season. In the long term, after the recent historic flood, the province should also consider and continue to pay attention to investing in upgrading and repairing dike works to respond to the complicated developments of the flood situation, especially when climate change is increasingly tense, increasing the severity of natural disasters.