On the morning of November 8, the military forces, police of Lam Dong province and the authorities of Ta Nang commune are continuing to deploy measures to reinforce the dam of Cay An irrigation lake.
Hundreds of officers and soldiers of the army, police, militia and other forces are urgently filling the ground, packing goats to reinforce the dam to save the project.
Present at the scene, Secretary of the Ta Nang Commune Party Committee Nguyen Tien Dien said that at the end of September and the beginning of October, the foot of the Cay An dam appeared a long crack, forcing the authorities to release overflow and lower the water level to ensure safety, and at the same time report to the superiors to ask for a handling plan.
In recent days, due to the impact of storm No. 13 causing prolonged heavy rain, the foot of the dam near the spillway continues to have cracks 54m long, 2m deep, 0.2 - 0.5m wide, and a very high risk of dam failure.
Mr. Dien said: "Under the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, we continue to release water to the lake, reduce pressure on the project, and at the same time close the Tram mound, drill concrete to reinforce the dam base to ensure safety".
Mr. Dien also informed that up to now, thanks to the efforts of the forces, the situation at Cay An dam has been basically controlled. However, if there continues to be prolonged heavy rain, the risk of dam failure is still very high.
Regarding the work of ensuring the safety of people in the downstream area, Chairman of Ta Nang Commune People's Committee Nguyen Vu Linh Sang said that the locality has evacuated 110 households with more than 500 people from the dangerous area; arranged guards and checkpoints at many locations to protect people.
Cay An Lake is over 20 hectares wide, with many upstream streams flowing in. When it rains heavily, the water rises quickly, putting pressure on the dam body, so we are speeding up the reinforcement progress to ensure safety," said Mr. Sang.
Regarding the incident, on the night of November 7, Chairman of Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Muoi and the working group directly inspected the scene and directed remedial measures.
That same night, Mr. Ho Van Muoi signed a decision to issue an Order to build an emergency project to overcome the leakage and landslides at Cay An Lake, in order to protect the safety of the project, the lives and property of more than 400 households, and 200 hectares of agricultural land in the downstream area.
The estimated implementation cost is 2.9 billion VND, drawn from the province's reserve budget. Cay An Lake was built about 20 years ago, with a dam structure and a designed capacity of more than 1.7 million m3 of water. This is an irrigation project serving irrigation for the agricultural production area of Ta Nang commune and neighboring areas.
Images recorded by reporters during the process of hundreds of people trying to reinforce and save the Cay An irrigation dam at risk of breaking in Lam Dong overnight:
