What did the survey company say about the stampede at Son Nu Cave?

No group of visitors has returned to the cave yet.

A new cave in Diu Do village (Truong Son commune, Quang Ninh district, Quang Binh) was discovered in early September, named "Son Nu cave", opening up more development opportunities for local tourism.

However, photos taken inside the cave showing the survey team climbing on… stalactites to take pictures have raised questions about the sustainability of cave mining in Quang Binh province.

The incident prompted Vice Chairman of the Quang Binh Provincial People's Committee Ho An Phong on September 18 to request the Quang Ninh District People's Committee to preside over and coordinate with relevant departments and branches to inspect the incident of trampling on stalactites reported by Thanh Nien Newspaper, and take measures to correct violations (if any). The Quang Binh Provincial People's Committee requested the locality and relevant units to take measures to correct violations, at the same time supervise the management and conservation of caves and report to the Provincial People's Committee no later than October 1.

Many people in the group entering Son Nu cave lacked knowledge about stalactites and caves.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Pham Trung Dong, Chairman of Quang Ninh District People's Committee, said that after the posted image, the authorities also reminded people not to continue violating.

"Up to this point, this cave has not been put into tourism exploitation. The district also asked the commune to grasp the situation and remind everyone not to violate it in the future. Since a group of people discovered this cave, no other group has entered the cave yet," said Mr. Dong.

Walking or sitting on stalactites will affect these natural masterpieces.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, Director of Truong Tuan Production and Trading Company Limited - the unit that organized the survey trip to Son Nu cave on September 2, said that in addition to company officials, the delegation also included local people and leaders of the People's Committee of Truong Son commune.

"During the survey, due to some local people's limited knowledge of caves and stalactites, there was an incident where some people walked and stood on stalactites in the cave, affecting the development of stalactites. As for the company, we would like to learn from our experience and pledge not to let similar incidents happen in the future," said Mr. Tuan.

"Leave nothing but footprints on the path you have marked."

As one of the people who is closely associated with and understands many cave systems in Quang Binh, Mr. Howard Limbert, Head of the expedition of the British Royal Cave Association, said that the stalactites and stalagmites in the cave are very fragile entities. Stalactites are masterpieces created from the essence of rock and water over a very long time, possibly hundreds of millions of years.

The recent spread of people standing and sitting on stalactites in Son Nu Cave on social media, Mr. Howard Limbert said, is a rough and harmful impact on the stalactites, and timely measures need to be taken to protect the stalactite system in this cave.

Tourists exploring Son Doong must follow a predetermined path.

With a "cave kingdom" like Quang Binh, there are many caves that have been discovered before and put into tourism exploitation for many years, almost never a "shocking" situation like in Son Nu has happened. The reason is because the professionalism right from the survey, operation, and exploitation stages has been assigned to reputable and specialized units, under the supervision of the government and state management agencies.

For example, Son Doong Cave, the world's largest natural cave, is located in the Phong Nha - Ke Bang cave complex (in Bo Trach District, Quang Binh). Oxalis Adventure is the only unit assigned by the Quang Binh Provincial People's Committee to operate the tour in 2013.

Son Doong Tour only welcomes a maximum of 1,000 visitors each year, with no more than 10 tourists per tour. Tour routes usually schedule a time to stop operations each year to avoid storms and floods, and to give the cave system time to balance its ecology after many months of tourism exploitation. Therefore, Son Doong Tour is only exploited for 7 months per year. "Those 5 months help restore the ecosystem in the cave. As for damage, there is almost no change because there is a path in the cave, with such a number of visitors, there is no significant impact that can be seen," Mr. Nguyen Chau A, Director of Oxalis Adventure told Thanh Nien .

Meters of rope are laid out to create an immovable path when wanting to visit Son Doong Cave.

In response to Thanh Nien 's question about whether any tourists "unconsciously" go against Oxalis Adventure's guidelines during their journey to explore Son Doong, Mr. Nguyen Chau A confidently affirmed that it would be very difficult. "We have enough people accompanying the guests to ensure that everything will be strict. Guests participating in the exploration must follow the predetermined paths and are not allowed to step outside of them... To be honest, visitors cannot even take a small rock out of the cave and they leave nothing but footprints on the path," Mr. Chau A confidently said.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/cong-ty-to-chuc-khao-sat-noi-gi-ve-vu-giam-dap-thach-nhu-hang-son-nu-185230920093602771.htm