Worrying about landslides
More than 200m of National Highway 34, near the foot of the dam of the Bac Me Hydropower Plant in Duong Hong Commune, Tuyen Quang Province, was devastated by landslides during the flood in late September 2025. The entire roadbed and road surface were swept away by floodwaters from the hydropower plant, and National Highway 34 was completely cut off for more than a month afterwards.
Recorded at the end of December 2025, after nearly 3 months of landslides, the repair work is still being carried out. The embankment on the negative slope is being poured on the side, while the roadbed that was washed away has been re-paved, the road surface is paved with crushed stone for vehicles to temporarily circulate.
Currently, vehicles with a load capacity of less than 10 tons are allowed to travel through the landslide area under strict regulation by the construction unit. However, the risk of landslides and insecurity is always present.
Mr. Ha Van Toan (Duong Hong commune, Tuyen Quang province) said that when the Bac Me hydropower plant releases floodwaters, the rushing water reaches the road surface and erodes directly into the negative slope, creating deep frog jawlands that are very dangerous for vehicles passing by.
"Even now, it is not the flood season, but this landslide section is very dangerous, the negative slope is the river, the positive slope is the cliff, every time they pass, they are just worried about the rocks and soil falling down," Mr. Toan worried.
This is a vital route connecting Tuyen Quang province with Cao Bang province. The landslide on National Highway 34 has caused many difficulties in people's travel and transportation of goods, posing a potential risk of insecurity.
After the serious landslide on National Highway 34, the interdisciplinary working group of Tuyen Quang province conducted an inspection of the operation of the Bac Me hydropower reservoir, clarified the violations and recommended handling measures.
A series of violations have not been remedied, transferred to the police for investigation
According to report No. 133 dated October 15, 2025 of the Department of Industry and Trade of Tuyen Quang province on the surprise inspection of Bac Me hydropower plant, monitoring data dated September 29, 2025 showed that the total discharge through Bac Me hydropower plant downstream at some times was 58 - 76 m3/s greater than the flow into the lake. The procedure for opening spillway doors is not in accordance with the procedure approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOET).
Many other shortcomings in Bac Me hydropower plant were also pointed out by the inspection team such as the process of transporting Bac Me hydropower reservoir approved by the BCT from 2017 to present, which has been over 5 years and has not been approved for review and adjustment. The emergency response plan for 2022, 2023, 2024 and until October 14, 2025 has not yet been approved.
Similarly, the Bac Me hydropower plant protection plan was approved in 2018, and has been implemented for more than 5 years, but the investor has not reported to the competent authority to consider the decision to allow continued use of the plan or submit an approval for the adjustment.
"The 220KV line connecting the Bac Me hydropower plant with the national power grid system has not been appraised for design, approved by the Investor, not inspected by state agencies for collection and has not been allocated land or leased land.
During the inspection of maintaining the Power outage Permit, the unit did not have documents proving the personnel participating in power outage activities (salary table and list of social insurance payments for employees working at the Bac Me Hydropower Plant)," the report of the Department of Industry and Trade of Tuyen Quang province stated.
Based on the violations pointed out by Bac Me Hydropower Plant, the Department of Industry and Trade proposed that the People's Committee of Tuyen Quang province consider handling administrative violations or recommend competent authorities to handle administrative violations (if any) according to the provisions of law.
After reviewing, in case the unit violates the operating conditions of the Power outage License, the Department of Industry and Trade will advise the Provincial People's Committee to give its opinion to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to consider, suspend or revoke the Power outage License according to regulations.
Informing reporters, Mr. Tran The Viet - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Tuyen Quang province said that due to complicated issues related to many fields, the Department has sent a report to the Provincial People's Committee.
"The Department of Industry and Trade has transferred the case to the Investigation Police Agency, Tuyen Quang Provincial Police to clarify whether the flood discharge from Bac Me Hydropower Plant was the cause of the landslide on National Highway 34 and flooding in the upstream of the Gam River," said Mr. Viet.
Bac Me Hydropower Plant is invested by VIETTRACIMEX Construction Trading Joint Stock Corporation with a total investment of nearly VND 1,400 billion, with an installed capacity of 45MW. The project started construction in November 2014 and generated electricity in 2018.
During the construction and operation process, this hydropower project has been continuously reported to be unsafe for construction, releasing floodwaters, causing damage to roads and landslides of people's houses.
