Central floods spark call for dam review

Ban Ve Hydropower Plant in central Nghe An Province. The Government has been urged to review its hydropower plants. — VNA/VNS Photo Canh Yen

HCM CITY — The Government needs to conduct inspections and review the construction of many hydropower projects in the search for long-term solutions to flooding problems faced by the central region, a senior parliamentarian has said.

Central provinces over the last several weeks have suffered repeated flooding and associated damage, with hundreds dead and missing, thousands of houses destroyed and heavy damage caused to transport infrastructure.

Tran Dinh Dan, head of the National Assembly Office said at the on-going National Assembly meeting that reservoirs built by hydropower plants had to be reviewed because they could change the rivers' flow.

There's a need to compare the benefit of reservoirs with the safety of people, he said, adding the National Assembly also has to exercise its supervisory functions over these projects because the altered river flows could worsen the flood situation.

Flood prone areas need investment in water drainage systems, he said.

Roads and forests

The construction of roads along mountain slopes between central Thanh Hoa Province with neibouring Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces may also hinder the flow of water from the forest to sea, creating floods.

Currently, Highway 1A and some dykes have had their height increased, impeding water flow to the sea.

Meanwhile the United Nations has warned that rampant deforestation would expose Asian nations including Viet Nam to the worst impacts of climate change, including floods.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, from 1998 to2005, 443,245 violations for the forestry law have been recorded nationwide. As many as 21,013ha of forest have been lost to illegally exploitation and 58,704ha of forest have been burnt.

From 1998 to 2009, rangers discovered and punished 42,500 cases of illegal logging every year, on average. As of December last year, forest cover in the country was measured at 39.1 per cent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Tran Xuan Bi, director of Nghe An's Department of Science and Technology, said that the province currently has hydroelectric plants which were already built or under the construction with a total capacity of 749.5 MW.

The construction has partially affected the environment and had some socio-economic impacts, he said.

"In the coming time, we will conduct research on solutions against flood and drought disasters in the central region and propose them to the provincial People's Committee and the Government for approval," he added. — VNS