Focus on flood control to protect rice and crops after storm No. 3

Determining that heavy rain and the impact of storm No. 3's circulation pose a risk of flooding many crop areas, localities and units in the province are focusing on implementing solutions to drain water and protect rice and crops.

Focus on flood control to protect rice and crops after storm No. 3

Officials of the Provincial Irrigation Works Exploitation One Member Co., Ltd. inspect the drainage of Lac Thien 2 culvert, Kim Son district. Photo: Anh Tuan

Yen Mo district currently has about 7,000 hectares of rice and various crops, of which more than 3,500 hectares of rice have flowered and are ripe. Facing the risk of heavy rains caused by storm No. 3, drainage and protection of agricultural production for farmers is an urgent requirement.

Mr. Duong Cao Bien, Head of the Yen Mo District Irrigation Works Exploitation Branch, said that storm No. 3 has passed, but its circulation could cause heavy rain for a long time. Yen Mo District has directed units and localities to focus on all measures to drain water from rice and crops, as well as protect aquaculture areas.

The Branch is managing 24 specialized pumping stations for combined drainage and irrigation, with 110 machines with a capacity of 1000 - 4000m3/1h/day. In recent days, the Branch has operated the pumping stations at maximum capacity, draining the buffer water in the area; mobilizing 100% of staff and workers to participate in on-duty, ready to operate when required. In addition, the Branch has also developed a response plan when heavy rain occurs, causing prolonged flooding to be ready to operate the pumping stations, ensuring production.

According to Mr. Le Tuan Hoa, Director of the Provincial Irrigation Works Exploitation One Member Co., Ltd., the unit is directly managing 152 pumping stations/655 machines, 219 culverts under the dike, 6 boat locks, nearly 730,000 m of various canals, 549 bridges, siphons, culverts, regulating culverts, 8 dams with a total capacity of 37.39 million ^m3 serving 85,296.3 hectares of agricultural production and aquaculture.

Responding to storm No. 3, the Provincial Irrigation Works Exploitation One Member Co., Ltd. operated 55 machines/16 pumping stations, 95 sluices under the dike, 17 sluices in the reservoir, and flood discharge dams to drain buffer water and protect production.

To ensure timely drainage, the unit has directed branches in districts and cities to drain water in the system and fields, ensuring safety for planted areas, aquaculture areas, rural and urban areas; arrange adequate supplies, fuel, human resources, inspect and prepare machinery and equipment, plan to turn on electricity for drainage pumping stations and proactively operate drainage when necessary; deploy bracing of houses, warehouses, and irrigation works; regularly inspect and monitor key works to promptly detect damage; coordinate with the Management Board of projects to clear the flow in districts and cities.

Up to now, all branches in the district and city have proactively drained the buffer water in the system; with the sluices under the dike, all backup phases and backup sluice gates have been closed to ensure that when water enters, the rising tide does not affect the downstream areas; the reservoirs have lowered the water level to a safe level according to the plan approved by the authorities.

In case of prolonged heavy rain caused by storm No. 3, all current pumping stations of the Company are ready to turn on the power and test the machines to ensure that all pumps operate normally, as well as flexibly deploy drainage plans when necessary.

Ninh Binh province currently has over 31,000 hectares of rice and nearly 3,260 hectares of various vegetables. The total aquaculture area is over 14,000 hectares, of which freshwater aquaculture is 11,000 hectares and brackish water aquaculture is 3,366 hectares.

Heavy rain and the circulation of storm No. 3 pose a very high risk of flooding. Ninh Binh province has determined that damage to agricultural production will greatly affect people's lives. Therefore, the provincial agricultural sector is implementing solutions to overcome and restore production such as: preparing enough quantity and types of vegetable seeds; strengthening the work of estimating and forecasting the occurrence of harmful organisms...

According to the forecast of the Ninh Binh Hydrometeorological Center, after the impact of the circulation of storm No. 3, from the evening of September 7 to the morning of September 9, Ninh Binh province will have heavy to very heavy rain and thunderstorms. Rainfall in districts and cities is generally from 100 - 200mm, in some places more than 250mm.

Minh Hai