A series of serious landslides
According to the Standing Office of the Civil Defense - Disaster Prevention and Control and Search and Rescue Command of Can Tho City, in the first 8 months of 2025, the area recorded 41 landslides with a total length of nearly 1,200m, directly affecting 39 households, causing an estimated damage of about 6.8 billion VND.
In Nhon My commune, the whole commune has 17 landslides, 467m long. Of which, 3 houses were completely collapsed, 6 others were in dangerous areas forced to be urgently evacuated.
Mr. Pham Van Viet, a resident near the landslide site, worried: "The land has reached the hallway of the house, the family is worried but there are no conditions to relocate. Hopefully the State will soon support to stabilize our lives".
In Vinh Long province, in early September, on the Mang Thit River dike, a key project protecting 60,000 hectares of productive land also recorded 3 landslides of 60m long in Tan Long Hoi commune, causing water to overflow, flooding fruit gardens and houses.
The People's Committee of Vinh Long province has also issued a decision to announce an emergency situation of landslides on the Giao Hoa river embankment (belonging to Self-managed People's Group No. 6, Chau Thanh hamlet, Giao Long commune), with a length of 60m, high danger level.
In Dong Thap, from the beginning of the year to August 30, the whole province had 7 major landslides on the Tien River and more than 100 minor subsidence cases, with a total length of 14.9km, estimated damage of about 158 billion VND. Notably, on September 20 in Cao Lanh ward, a 100m long landslide swept away 7 houses. On September 24, another 150m long incident occurred on Nguyen Huong Street, causing 5 houses to collapse completely.
Associate Professor, Dr. Le Anh Tuan - Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Can Tho University - commented that the main cause of landslides in the Mekong Delta is due to a sharp decrease in the amount of sand and silt from upstream. The water became "smoked" with silt, the flow changed, the speed increased rapidly, leading to an increasingly serious risk of landslides.
The situation of excessive sand mining for construction, traffic and filling has further changed the flow. The construction along the riverbank and the exploitation of water underground also caused the ground to sink rapidly, "assisting" landslides. According to Mr. Tuan, it is necessary to specifically assess the level and scope of landslides to propose appropriate solutions.
"We must not only stop at reinforcement, but also consider long-term solutions such as importing sand, using alternative materials, and even building high-altitude highways to save on sand for filling" - he emphasized.
Efforts to overcome this problem with construction solutions
Currently, Can Tho City is implementing many construction and non-construction solutions to protect residents and infrastructure. A key project is the emergency anti-landslide embankment on the O Mon River bank (O Mon Ward) with an investment capital of 130 billion VND, 650m long, expected to be completed in the 2025 - 2026 period. The project aims to prevent serious landslides and protect residential areas along the river.
Recently, the emergency anti-landslide embankment of Cai San canal (Vinh Trinh commune) has also been put into use, 876.5m long, with a capital of 100 billion VND, considered a "shield" to protect a landslide hot spot, helping to stabilize the lives and traffic of dozens of households.
In Nhon My commune (Can Tho city), Chairman of Cao Minh Thom commune People's Committee said that the locality has proposed that the city support funding to overcome and reinforce landslides to ensure production and travel during the rainy and stormy season. In the immediate future, the commune has temporarily reinforced 7 vulnerable sections of 143m long with coconut wood, bamboo stakes, and stone.
In Vinh Long, construction units are urgently reinforcing the Mang Thit River dike section through Tan Long Hoi commune by closing cajuput and coconut trees, filling erosion holes, and filling soil to prevent high tides. The repair work is expected to be completed in October 2025.
