Factory silently encroaches on Lo River
For many years, the situation of illegal construction and encroachment on the upstream area of the Lo River section passing through Tuyen Quang province has been public, causing the flow to change, affecting flood drainage capacity, causing flooding for the areas of Ha Giang 1 and Ha Giang 2 wards.
Although functional agencies have intervened to inspect and handle it, it is not definitive, illegal encroachment works along the Lo River are still blocking and even showing signs of expansion, causing public outrage.
According to PV's records at the end of December 2025, the encroachment works on the Lo River have an area of hundreds to tens of thousands of square meters, of which the large encroachment area with solid construction works is of companies and organizations operating in production and business.
The concrete mixing plant of Hung Phung Concrete and Construction Joint Stock Company (Hung Phung Company) in Vi Xuyen commune is one of many public works encroaching on the Lo River. For many years, this company has secretly dumped soil and rocks on the banks and riverbeds of the Lo River and then built factories.
According to research, Hung Phung Company's concrete mixing plant has a total area of nearly 4,000m2, of which the encroached area into the Lo River is 1,600m2. The encroachment soil has narrowed the Lo River by about 20m, seriously affecting flood drainage capacity. This incident happened before 2018.
Mr. Trieu Van H. (Vi Xuyen commune) said that previously Hung Phung Company operated rampantly, soil and rocks and concrete waste from the mixing station and tankers were dumped directly into the Lo River bank by this unit. Over a long period of time, the land area of this company has expanded.
The dumping of soil, rocks, and concrete waste by Hung Phung Company not only encroaches on the Lo River but also affects the land of many people living near the mixing station. People have many petitions, and functional agencies have also inspected and handled them, but it has not been completely resolved," Mr. H. said.
Currently, at the mixing station area of Hung Phung Company, production and business activities have been stopped, and all machinery and equipment have been relocated. However, the area encroaching on the Lo River has not been dismantled and returned as initially, causing public outrage.
Meanwhile, in the area of the gateway to the central wards of the old Ha Giang province (now Tuyen Quang province), the illegal factory encroaching on the Lo River of Dong Tung Gas Trading and Service Production Co., Ltd. (Dong Tung Gas Company) with an area of hundreds of square meters, although pointed out, still exists after many years.
According to research, since 2017, Dong Tung Gas Company has started pouring soil and rocks to encroach on the Lo River and building illegal factories and works with an area of nearly 500 m2. After pouring soil to encroach, this unit also built solid concrete embankments stretching for dozens of meters along the Lo River.
The encroachment of Dong Tung Gas Company has narrowed the Lo River bed by about 15 meters compared to the initial state. For many years afterwards, although functional agencies have repeatedly requested the dismantling of the encroached structure, Dong Tung Gas Company has not yet thoroughly overcome it.
Not far away, the quiet parking lot of Quy Linh Co., Ltd. (Ha Giang 1 ward), a particularly large project encroaching on the Lo River bed with an area of more than 20,000 m2. Land and rocks, mainly waste from construction projects in the area, have been dumped into this area many years ago.
From 2010, Quy Linh Co., Ltd. began to occupy and build construction items, completed at the end of 2017 and is currently used as a parking lot for this unit. Construction, leveling, and soil pouring activities have not been licensed.
Talking to PV, Mr. Tran Song Ha - Chairman of Ha Giang 1 Ward People's Committee said that the static parking lot of Quy Linh Co., Ltd. was allowed by the province to dump soil from 2003 and later formed a static parking lot.
In fact, they only dumped soil there but there were no land allocation decisions, recently a delegation from the province came to inspect and assess the current situation in this area. Quy Linh Co., Ltd. has also transported a quantity of illegally dumped soil and rocks," the leader said.
The Lo River flow is congested
The Lo River originates from China, flowing along Tuyen Quang province with a length of nearly 200km. This river is of particular importance to the ecological environment, agricultural production and urban space planning.
However, the serious encroachment on the Lo River for many years has left many consequences. Along the Lo River route, it is not difficult to encounter encroachment on the riverbed and banks. Less is a few meters, more is dozens of meters, occupying up to 1/3 of the riverbed.
Witnessing the change of the river, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet (Ha Giang 1 ward, Tuyen Quang province) said that in fact, the riverbed area has been narrowed by dozens of meters after many years. Starting from planning and building houses on both banks of the river. After that, constructions began to pour soil and rocks, encroaching on the riverbed area.
The encroachment takes place silently, and over a long period of time, a clear change can be seen in the Lo River. In recent years, floodwaters have flowed heavily and risen higher due to the riverbed being narrowed, and water overflowing onto the shore, sweeping away land and people's property," Ms. Tuyet said.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Dai (Ha Giang 2 ward), in the past, many riverbank locations were still adjacent to National Highway 2. Since houses and works were built, the riverbed has gradually narrowed, and soil and rocks have been gradually dumped into the river to gain more usable area.
The clearest thing is that in the past 3 or 4 years, when the rainy and flood season comes, people are worried because the Lo River water is rising, drainage is slow, and the flooding situation is prolonged. Perhaps this situation will continue in the coming years," Mr. Dai worried.
After a number of major floods in recent years, it shows that the flood drainage capacity on the Lo River in Ha Giang 1 and Ha Giang 2 wards is very low. Therefore, it is an urgent requirement to soon overcome violations of encroachment on the Lo River bed and restore the current flow status, ensuring safety during the rainy and flood season.
This situation has been recognized by functional agencies of the former Ha Giang province (now Tuyen Quang province), but for a long time, violations have not been handled and thoroughly overcome.
