As reported by Lao Dong Newspaper, the Department of Industry and Trade of Tuyen Quang province has transferred the case to the Investigation Police Agency to clarify whether the flood discharge from Bac Me Hydropower Plant was the cause of serious landslides on National Highway 34 and flooding in the upstream of the Gam River.
Previously, at the end of September 2025, more than 200m of National Highway 34, near the foot of the dam of Bac Me Hydropower Plant (Duong Hong Commune, Tuyen Quang Province) was devastated by landslides. The entire roadbed and road surface were swept away by floodwaters from the hydropower plant, causing National Highway 34 to be completely cut off for more than a month afterwards.
Up to now, the repair work is still underway, 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.
It is worth mentioning that after the incident of National Highway 34 being seriously eroded due to the impact of flood discharge from Bac Me hydropower plant, the Chairman of Tuyen Quang Provincial People's Committee directed the competent authorities to work with the investor to clarify related issues, but this unit did not cooperate many times.
According to report No. 144 dated October 27, 2025 of the Department of Industry and Trade of Tuyen Quang province, at the first inspection of the implementation of the reservoir transportation process at the Bac Me hydropower plant on October 10, 2025, this unit did not coordinate with the inspection team, did not open the factory to the working group for inspection and did not send staff to work as requested.
At the second inspection on October 14, 2025, the investor of Bac Me hydropower project (ViETTRACIMEX Construction Trading Joint Stock Corporation) continued not to send legal representatives to work with the working group.
At the third meeting on October 21, 2025, Construction Trading Joint Stock Corporation still did not send a legal representative to work with the representative of the Department of Industry and Trade and departments and only authorized Mr. Nguyen Van Truong, an officer of Construction Trading Joint Stock Corporation, to work.
During the working session on October 21, the working group pointed out errors in the reservoir operation process of Bac Me Hydropower Plant, but Mr. Nguyen Van Truong did not agree with the errors pointed out and did not cooperate to sign the working minutes.
"Construction Trading Joint Stock Corporation did not cooperate with local authorities and specialized agencies of the province to work according to regulations, taking responsibility when the entire plot and road surface of Km63+700.Km63+800 QL.34 were washed away by floodwaters and cut off traffic.
The operation of Bac Me hydroelectric reservoir is not in accordance with the reservoir transportation process approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, not strictly complying with the provisions of the law on land, construction investment and safety of reservoirs and reservoirs", the document of the Department of Industry and Trade of Tuyen Quang province clearly stated.
Also according to the Department of Industry and Trade of Tuyen Quang province, the above violation violated state regulations that can sanction administrative violations and risk causing damage to state assets, affecting people's lives. Investors do not cooperate to do so, so solving the above problem in an administrative direction is difficult to implement, takes a lot of time, is not effective, efficient and has low deterrence.
To handle the above problems, ensuring the strictness of the law, the Department of Industry and Trade transferred Tuyen Quang Provincial Police to investigate and verify that the flood discharge in violation of the process of Bac Me hydropower plant had the effect of causing drift, cutting off traffic on National Highway 34 and causing the upstream of the Gam River to be flooded, tilting the two bridge gates and cable carburetors to be deformed, seriously affecting the load-bearing capacity of the Na Vuong suspension bridge.
Regarding this content, on December 22, speaking with reporters, Mr. Do Viet Dung - Chairman of Duong Hong commune said that the embankment of the negative slope that collapsed on National Highway 34 is being poured with concrete, while the road surface is still rocks and soil for temporary traffic.
"Many times, the local government coordinated with the provincial interdisciplinary working group to go to the Bac Me hydropower plant to work, but the investor did not accept or cooperate. The violations of Bac Me hydropower plant have been pointed out since the district level but still exist to this day," Mr. Dung informed.
