|A crossing destroyed by landslides in the southern province of Hau Giang. Nearly 1,400 households living in landslide-prone areas in the province need to be relocated. — VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khuong
HAU GIANG (VNS) — Nearly 1,400 households living in landslide-prone areas in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang need to be relocated so they can lead more stable lives, according to Le Phuoc Dai, an official of the provincial Steering Committee for flood and storm search and rescue.
Local customs of building houses and roads near canals or on swift-flowing rivers have created a high risk of landslides.
The situation has become direr, with landslides occurring not just in the rainy season but also in drier weather. Twenty landslides were reported in riverside areas in the first few months of this dry season. Dai attributed this as a result of global climate change, which has affected sea levels and salt intrusion.
Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director Nguyen Van Dong said the most effective measure against landslides was to reinforce the dyke system, but that took a lot of money.
Therefore, in the foreseeable future the locality planned to relocate all households in landslide-prone areas, he said.
To do this, the province needed more than VND340 billion (US$15.3 million) to build dykes, infrastructure and resettlement houses.
Since the beginning of 2015, Hau Giang has seen more than 40 riverside landslides, up 30 cases over the previous year, causing huge financial losses. — VNS