In some highland communes of Lao Cai province, many roads built under the Traffic Development Project are showing signs of degradation even though they have not been in use for long.
Typically, the road from National Highway 32 to Hang De Dai village, Khao Mang commune, more than 4.2km long, has been eroded and damaged in many sections.
The road was built three years ago according to the Rural Transport Development Project with a total cost of more than 4 billion VND, of which the State supported 70%, and people contributed 30%.
When completed, the road opens up trade opportunities, helping people conveniently transport agricultural products, travel and access essential services.
Because the entire route is not invested in a system of ditches and drainage culverts, every rainy season water from the mountain slopes pours directly into the road surface, sweeping away the concrete foundation, causing taluy landslides and creating many traffic unsafe spots.
There is a section more than 20m long that was completely swept away by floodwaters, forcing people to build temporary bridges to maintain travel.
Mr. Giang A Sau - Head of Hang De Dai village - said that in addition to the funding supported by the State, people in the village have contributed about 1.6 billion VND to build the road and still owe the construction unit about 700 million VND.
People really hope that the State will pay attention to investing in supplementing the drainage ditch system to protect the project, avoiding the situation of roads that have just been built and are already degraded," Mr. Sau shared.
Not only the road to Hang De Dai, many other rural traffic routes in Khao Mang commune are also facing a similar situation. Some places have road surfaces eroded into deep ditches, and some places have negative taluy landslides, posing a risk of accidents for people and vehicles.
Mr. Giang A Ly, a local resident, said that every time it rains heavily, travel becomes very difficult. Muddy, slippery dirt roads cause many people to fall, while concrete road sections without drainage ditches are also quickly eroded and damaged.
On June 24, in an exchange with Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Sung A Binh - Chairman of Khao Mang Commune People's Committee said that the locality currently has 138km of rural roads, of which nearly 82km have not been reinforced and nearly 10km of concrete roads do not have drainage ditches.
In the immediate future, local authorities are maintaining temporary measures such as clearing the flow, handling landslide points, mobilizing people to clear soil and rocks after rain, and placing warning signs at dangerous locations.
However, these solutions are only temporary and require higher levels to allocate funds to repair and supplement the drainage ditch and culvert system for degraded roads.
For new investment projects, the locality will propose to the investor to fully include drainage items in the design and construction from the beginning to ensure the quality of the project, extend the lifespan of the road and avoid wasting investment capital," shared the leader of Khao Mang commune.
