On November 11, Mr. Nguyen Ha Loc, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, said that the whole province currently has 1,033 irrigation works, including 526 reservoirs, including 97 large lakes, 204 medium lakes and 206 small lakes.
Through inspection, out of the total number of irrigation works, 148 lakes and dams are damaged in many items, and need to be repaired and upgraded soon.
In the past, management units have proactively maintained and repaired, but have only been able to carry out small items due to lack of capital. Many lakes have been built for a long time, with lost records, lacking technical specifications, causing difficulties in operation and safety.
The safety of the reservoir became hot after the reservoir burst on Tan Lai mountain of Trang Trai Viet Phong Phu Company in Tuy Phong commune (old Binh Thuan), causing severe damage, causing a child to die. The incident also damaged many traffic works, electricity, houses and crops of the people.
Through inspection, the reservoir of Trang Trai Viet Phong Phu Company did not have a construction permit, did not have an environmental impact assessment report and had not been technically assessed.
The company arbitrarily blocks water remnants - an act prohibited under the Law on Water Resources. The claim that a lake under 500,000 m3 does not need a permit is incorrect, because all reservoir works must be appraised and approved according to the Irrigation Law.
After the incident, Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee requested to drain the water, demolish the dam and not allow water to be collected back. The Provincial Police and departments and branches are investigating the cause.
Recently, on the afternoon of November 7, Cay An irrigation lake (Tra Nang commune) with a capacity of 1.7 million m3 fell into a state of emergency risk of dam failure due to degradation.
Fortunately, the local government promptly detected and mobilized hundreds of people from many police, military and militia forces to participate in saving the dam overnight.
Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee has issued an emergency construction order for a project to overcome the leakage and landslides of Cay An irrigation lake, with a total cost of 2.9 billion VND. Currently, the forces are drilling 48 drill points to pump in waterproof chemicals to protect the dam body.
