Regarding the information that the Funan Techo canal project (also known as the Phu Nam - Techo canal project) in Cambodia will disrupt the ecosystem of the West; may take away 50% of the water of the Mekong River;... Professor - Doctor, People's Teacher Vo Tong Xuan is a scientist in the field of agriculture - said that, initially, this is not as worrying as the information given by some newspapers recently. However, we still need to wait for specific data to evaluate.
 |
| Map of Cambodia's Funan-Techo Canal. Photo: Vietnam Mekong River Commission |
“I do not have exact data on the flow during the dry season in the Tien and Hau rivers, as well as the amount of water that Cambodia will take and the amount of water that will flow to Vietnam. However, preliminarily, I think this is not too worrying,” said Professor Vo Tong Xuan.
According to Professor Vo Tong Xuan, we are currently taking water from Tien River and Hau River to irrigate Dong Thap Muoi area and Long Xuyen Quadrangle area, with very high efficiency. On the other hand, during flood season, there is a lot of water from Cambodia and it flows through Long Xuyen Quadrangle, partly down to Hong Ngu (Dong Thap).
Professor Vo Tong Xuan believes that the water flow to the Mekong Delta will not change much in the near future. Therefore, we should not rush to say whether the construction of the Funan Techo Canal project will cause damage or not. However, he believes that this will not cause great damage to Vietnam.
Currently, Cambodia is doing an environmental impact assessment of the project. We are still waiting for information from this assessment. If they make the canal too wide and too deep, it will cause damage to Vietnam. At that time, Vietnam will have opinions for them to narrow it down.
 |
| Professor Vo Tong Xuan |
“We are only concerned about the amount of water in the dry season, but we do not need to worry about the rainy season,” Professor Vo Tong Xuan shared, adding that Cambodia’s announcement mentioned that the impact of the project is insignificant. They gave such a number but we do not know what the reality will be.
The Mekong River Commission has met, but it does not fully believe the report that Cambodia has submitted and is asking Cambodia to investigate it again. We are also waiting for the exact number.
Regarding solutions, Professor Vo Tong Xuan said that on the one hand, we will propose to the Mekong River Commission to support countries in conducting a joint study on the project's transboundary impacts on all sectors and propose measures to minimize impacts.
On the one hand, to have more information, within the framework of the 1995 Mekong Agreement, Vietnam has the right to request Cambodia to cooperate and provide additional information to the Mekong River Commission and Vietnam on the following contents: Operational procedures of the 3 locks; Other purposes of the canal such as serving agricultural production, specific irrigation area in hectares; Connecting the canal with the existing river and canal system where the waterway canal crosses; Solutions to ensure safety when an incident occurs. At that time, the adverse impacts caused by the canal will be fully calculated and solutions to minimize them will be proposed.
According to information from the consultation meeting on Cambodia's Phu Nam - Techo canal project organized by the Vietnam Mekong River Commission (VNMC) on April 23 in Can Tho City, the Phu Nam - Techo canal project connects the Bassac River to Cambodia's Kep port, with a total length of about 180 km.
Accordingly, this canal is designed with a large enough size, specifically, the bottom width of the canal is 5 m, the surface width of the canal is from 80-120 m and the water level in the canal is 4.7 m deep so that ships with a load capacity of up to 1,000 tons can pass through.
The project will build 3 sluices (boat locks) to regulate the flow, maintain the stability of the water level in the waterway and prevent saltwater intrusion. These sluices are 135 m long, 18 m wide, and 5.8 m deep. In addition to the above construction items, the project will also build 11 traffic bridges (161 m long, 12 m wide) across the canal to serve the travel needs of the people.
The project is expected to start construction in Cambodia in 2024 and be completed in 2027, with a total volume of goods passing through this new waterway of 7 million tons/year.
Previously, on August 8, 2023, Cambodia sent a notification to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat about the Funan Techo Inland Waterway Project. Some information about the canal: Length x width x depth of the canal: LxBxH = 180 km x 50m x 4.7m; there are 3 locks to control water level and traffic flow (LxBxH: 135x18x5.8 m); the average maximum daily flow through the lock is 3.6 m³/s.
The 234 km long Tien River or Tien Giang is the left downstream branch (left bank) of the Mekong River, in the Northwest - Southeast direction, flowing from Phnom Penh, through Kandal, along the natural boundary between Prey Veng province of Cambodia, flowing into the Mekong Delta, in the territory of Vietnam, starting at Vinh Xuong commune (Tan Chau, An Giang) and Thuong Phuoc 1 (Hong Ngu, Dong Thap). The Hau River or Hau Giang is as long as the Tien River, also separates from the Mekong River (right bank) in Phnom Penh (Cambodia), flows in Kandal territory and then enters Vietnamese territory at Khanh An commune, An Phu district (An Giang). The Tien and Hau rivers form the largest Mekong Delta in our country, with about 4 million hectares of fertile alluvial land, of which 1.2 million hectares along the river are very suitable for rice cultivation. The dense network of rivers and canals is very convenient for supplying water for rice and crop production, aquaculture and fishing, and for traveling by boat. |
Source
Comment (0)