On November 8, the Investigation Police Agency of Lam Dong Province Police (PC01) is still presiding over and coordinating with relevant agencies to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the water reservoir break on Tan Lai Mountain under the Viet Phong Phu Farm project on the evening of November 1, causing serious consequences.
According to Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, of the 6 existing reservoirs in the project, the reservoir where the water broke was the largest, about 20 hectares, with a capacity of nearly 900,000m3. Compared with the classification of dams and reservoirs according to Decree No. 114/2018/ND-CP, this lake belongs to a medium-sized reservoir.
Mr. Nguyen Ha Loc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Lam Dong province - said that the reservoir on the project of Viet Phong Phu Farm Company Limited is not included in the construction permit, there is no environmental impact assessment report and has not been technically assessed.
Also according to Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, the requirements for the design and construction of dams and reservoirs must meet technical requirements. In particular, the investment in the construction of dams and reservoirs must meet the requirements specified in Article 17 of the Law on Irrigation.
The overall arrangement and design of the dam structure must facilitate dam safety management, dam rescue when incidents occur and maintenance, upgrading, and repair when the project is damaged.
The operation and maintenance process for each project item must be prepared, approved along with the design documents and handed over to the dam and reservoir manager when handing over the project for operation.
For floodgates operating on electricity, there must be at least two power sources, including one source using a backup generator. Arrange monitoring equipment for dams and reservoirs according to current national technical standards and regulations and relevant laws.
For dams and reservoirs with flood control gates, they must install an operational monitoring system, information equipment, safety warnings, and specialized hydrometeorological monitoring equipment. At the same time, a database of dams and reservoirs will be built.
However, according to the authorities, the company had arbitrarily blocked the illegal water flow. When the authorities requested to provide project documents and related documents according to regulations, the company could not provide them.
Meanwhile, speaking with reporters on November 3, Mr. Tran Quang Tinh - Director of Phong Phu Agency Agency - said: "The reservoir of water under 500,000m3 in the project documents does not need a construction permit".
In response to this view, Mr. Nguyen Ha Loc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Lam Dong province - affirmed: "There is no concept that a reservoir with this capacity does not require a license".
The decision of Trang Trai Viet Phong Phu Company to arbitrarily block the flow on the mountain, according to the leader of this department, is considered a prohibited act under the Law on Water Resources.
As reported by Lao Dong, on the evening of November 1, the reservoir at the project of Viet Phong Phu Farm Company broke, causing water to pour into residential areas and agricultural production areas of the people.
As a result, a 13-year-old girl died, and more than 260 households suffered damage to land, crops, and livestock. Many canals, power lines and infrastructure works were damaged.
Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee has requested the company to drain the water of ponds and reservoirs on the project and demolish dams to prevent water.
