Dung K'No 5 resettlement area, Dam Rong 4 commune, Lam Dong province is invested with about 38 billion VND with the goal of arranging safe accommodation for people in areas at risk of natural disasters.
Phase 1 of the project has been completed, handing over land to 73 households from 2020.
But after only a few years, the very place that was expected to be a safe place for living has appeared with a series of landslides and subsidence points. Sidewalk erosion, cracked soil, drainage ditches and some concrete items are broken. Some landslide locations are close to people's houses.
Faced with dangerous developments, local authorities had to relocate 13 households to safe places, and the People's Committee of Lam Dong province announced an emergency situation for natural disasters in this area.
Notably, this is not the first time a project built to bring people out of disaster-prone areas to safe places has been surrounded by landslides and subsidence.
Previously and most recently, in the resettlement area of hamlet 1, Phuoc Thanh commune, Phuoc Son district, Quang Nam province (old), 107 households in the landslide area were arranged for new accommodation in 2020. After heavy rains, landslides reappeared at the embankment and taluy of the resettlement area, threatening some houses; 5 households had to temporarily relocate, living interspersed with relatives to ensure safety.
Similarly, the Ngoi hamlet resettlement area, Suoi Hoa commune, Tan Lac district, Hoa Binh province (old) was built to stabilize the population, but in 2024, serious landslides and subsidence caused all 8 households with 36 people to be evacuated.
Returning to the Dung K'No 5 resettlement area in Lam Dong, urgently relocating people is necessary. In any situation, safety of life must still be put first.
But this relocation is posing a paradox that needs to be clarified, which is why a resettlement area built for the purpose of disaster prevention continues to generate disaster risks after only a period of use?
Prolonged heavy rain may be a direct cause of soil and rock unstableness. But with a disaster prevention resettlement area, the ability to withstand the impact of heavy rain, steep terrain, landslide risk and drainage capacity should have been carefully calculated right from the survey, site selection and design stages.
Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of geology, terrain, drainage system and stability of the entire area is needed, instead of just reinforcing each visible landslide point.
Along with that is the review of the survey, design, construction, acceptance and post-investment management stages. If shortcomings are detected, the causes and responsibilities must be clearly identified, but all conclusions need to be based on full professional assessment.
In areas frequently facing landslides, flash floods and increasingly unpredictable natural disasters, each resettlement project must be placed under a stricter safety standard.
Disaster shelters must first of all be safe places so that people can rest assured and stay for a long time.
