Consecutive landslides
Early on May 18, a landslide on the bank of the Ong Chuong River caused 10 houses in Cho Moi District, An Giang Province to be swept away by water.
Previously, at around 3:00 a.m. on May 17, a section of the western bank of the 30/4 canal in Nha Mat ward, Bac Lieu city, Bac Lieu province suffered a landslide with a width of 3m and a length of 15m. The initial cause was determined to be heavy rain, combined with high tides, causing dangerous landslides on the road surface. Also on the west bank of this 30/4 canal, on the night of March 12, a 33m long landslide occurred due to erosion by strong currents from the East Sea.
In Can Tho City, in the early morning of May 13, a 46m long landslide occurred on the traffic route of the Bang Tang River, in the Long Dinh area, Long Hung Ward, O Mon District. About 30m has completely collapsed, the remaining 16m is in a state of cracking and serious subsidence. The landslide was 4 - 5m inland, collapsing almost the entire road surface with a depth of 0.5 - 2m.
In Hau Giang province, on May 7 alone, there were 3 landslides on the banks of Mai Dam canal in Chau Thanh district. Previously, on May 5, a landslide occurred in this locality on the Bao Bung canal bank with a length of 30m, with a land loss area of 150m2.
On April 23, the Bao Tron culvert area (Km 7+200) on the Dam Doi - Cai Water section cracked, subsided more than half of the road towards the river and did not ensure cars could travel through this area.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Cu Lao Dung district, since the beginning of the year, the locality has recorded 6 landslides with a total length of over 350m in the two communes of An Thanh Dong and Dai An 1. In particular, there were 4 serious landslides, stretching over 250m.
hit one place, landslide another
Faced with consecutive landslides, authorities at all levels in Can Tho and Hau Giang, Bac Lieu are urgently deploying response measures.
In O Mon district, considered a "hot spot" for landslides in Can Tho city, on January 3, the city deployed the construction of an emergency anti-landslide embankment, the section passing through Thoi An ward, with a total estimated investment of about 130 billion VND. The embankment is 650m long and is expected to be completed in 2026.
Previously, the emergency anti-erosion embankment project for Cai San canal with a total cost of about 100 billion VND was also started by Can Tho city on October 31, 2024. The project has a total length of 950m, including a solid embankment, railings, walking corridors and roads along the embankment; expected to be completed and put into use after 12 months.
In Soc Trang, Mr. Nguyen Van Dac - Head of Agriculture and Environment Department of Cu Lao Dung district - said that the erosion is likely to continue complicated in the near future. The People's Committee of Soc Trang Province is also proposing to the Ministry of Finance to consider supporting the central budget for the project to upgrade the Deo of Ta River, Huu Huu Cu Lao Dung, put into the medium -term public investment plan for the period 2026 - 2030.
According to statistics from the Southern Institute of Water Resources Planning, in the dry season of 2023 - 2024, the Mekong Delta region has 2,059 subsidence points (equivalent to 51km of dyke length, rural traffic routes); 686 riverbank landslides (591.3km long) and 57 coastal landslides (203.2km long).
Mr. Le Thanh Chuong - Director of the Center for River Control and Natural Disaster Prevention Research - Southern Institute of Irrigation Science - said that river banks and coasts in the Mekong Delta are in a period of strong fluctuations in form, affecting economic, social and environmental activities.
In the long term, Mr. Chuong suggested that it is necessary to complete and implement the legal framework on riverbank and coastal management, which is the establishment and implementation of a coastal protection corridor, in which a reasonable time frame is stipulated for the construction of infrastructure works and land use planning.
