Reflecting to Lao Dong Newspaper, many local people said that from about mid-November 2025 to now, in the Cung Ba area, Phat village, Long Sap commune (Son La), a situation occurred where two households arbitrarily poured soil and rocks encroaching on the Sap stream bed.
This changes the natural flow, poses a risk of landslides and directly affects the production and daily life of surrounding households.
According to reports, two households including Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuyen and her son hired excavators and trucks to carry soil and rocks to level and build embankments encroaching on the stream bed with an area of about 100m2.
The affected area is located close to the stream edge. The prolonged dumping of soil and rocks has significantly narrowed the stream bed, with some sections encroaching deep into the stream from 3 to 4m.
Not only changing the flow, the process of leveling soil and rocks also damaged the temporary bridge leading to the production area of 5 households growing fruit trees and tea in Ban Phat.
The damaged bridge makes it impossible for people to transport agricultural products and supplies by motorbike, forcing them to carry and carry manually, causing many difficulties in production.
Records of Lao Dong Newspaper reporters in the first days of January show that in this area there is still a large excavator operating to level soil and rocks.
Soil is poured into two layers, stretching about 60m along the stream. There are people standing guard in the construction area.
Outraged by the incident, Ms. Vi Thi Lay - a resident living near the area - said that from about mid-November, the two households began to pour soil and rocks into the stream bed.
We have repeatedly reminded and suggested, but they did not stop. Now the bridge to the production area is broken, transporting tea buds or fertilizers requires walking, which is very hard," Ms. Lay said.
Sharing the same concern, Ms. Vi Anh Lam (Phat village) said that narrowing the stream bed will increase the risk of erosion and landslides of production land when heavy rain occurs.
According to Ms. Lam, if rain and floods converge on the narrowed stream section, it will be very dangerous. People hope that the government will soon handle it thoroughly, return the stream bed and repair the bridge so that people can feel secure in production.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Tran Xuan Thanh - Chairman of Long Sap Commune People's Committee - said that the locality has re-measured the current status of the land of the two households because this is a long-term cultivated area. Previously, when detecting the land encroachment on the stream, the commune requested to remove it and rake it back to the current status to ensure it does not encroach on the stream bed.
The commune's point of view is that if the situation of encroachment on streams continues to arise, the locality will inspect and handle it according to regulations. Regarding the reflection that the bridge to the production area is damaged, the commune will re-inspect it to have handling measures, creating conditions for people to travel and produce in the coming time," Mr. Thanh said.
