Urgently supplement planning, integrate programs and projects to support resettlement of people due to landslides and natural disaster prevention in the Mekong Delta to include in the group of urgent tasks.
On the morning of March 12, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired a meeting to listen to a report on the Project on Prevention and Control of Landslides, Landslides, Floods, Droughts, and Saltwater Intrusion in the Mekong Delta by 2035, with a vision to 2050. The project identifies this as an important task of the entire political system; ensuring comprehensiveness, combining multiple objectives; taking proactive prevention as the main focus, focusing on risk management.
Forest fire warning level V
According to records, in recent days, due to the intense heat, the water source in canals and ditches storing water for forest fire prevention and fighting (PCCCR) in some places in Ca Mau province has decreased.
Mr. Le Van Hai, Head of the Forest Protection Department of Ca Mau province, said that the locality currently has 17,548 ha/45,679 ha of forest at risk of fire due to drought. Of which, level III (high level) fire warning is 16,711 ha; level IV (dangerous level) is 837 ha. To strictly control the risk of forest fires, the functional sector of Ca Mau province has requested high-risk areas such as U Minh Ha National Park and U Minh Ha Forestry Company to proactively implement fire prevention and control measures with the motto "4 on-site". At the same time, mobilize people to sign a commitment not to use fire in the forest during the dry season to ensure fire prevention and control safety for 5,485 households living in and near the forest. At the same time, install fire ban signs and forest fire warning signs in high-risk areas; equip 126 pumps, 53,000 m of fire hoses...
In An Giang, due to the forecast of forest fire level in Tri Ton district at level IV, the People's Committee of this district has issued a notice requesting the People's Committees of 15 communes and towns, organizations and individuals to temporarily suspend activities in the forest, such as: exploitation, thinning of forest trees, collecting traditional medicine... The severe heat in recent times has caused many forest areas in Kien Giang province to be put in a state of fire warning level IV, V (extremely dangerous level). In particular, Phu Quoc is warned of forest fire risk level V; Giang Thanh and Kien Luong districts are warned of forest fire risk level IV... Mr. Le Huu Toan, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment (NN-MT) of Kien Giang province, said that this year the province has allocated over 17 billion VND to all forest owners to invest in equipment, tools and means to proactively prepare fire prevention and control plans.
Mr. Tran Ba Hoang, Director of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research (SIWRR), said that from March 12 to 15, saline intrusion (SRI) in the Mekong Delta is forecast to increase slightly according to the high tide period, some rivers are still at quite high levels, affecting the water intake of irrigation works located 40-55 km from the sea.
To cope with XNM, Tra Vinh province has dredged intra-field canals in the dry season. Currently, localities have registered to dredge 492 works, over 420 km long; installed 12 tanks. Ben Tre province is gradually completing Cai Han sluice to prevent salinity and store water from Cho Lach district to Mo Cay Bac district. To ensure water sources for production and people's daily life, Kien Giang province has proposed an early drought prevention plan. Irrigation works are operated flexibly, helping to control salinity effectively. Specifically, during the high tides in January and February, Kien Giang Province's Irrigation Sub-Department coordinated with the Southern Irrigation Exploitation Company Limited to operate and close Cai Lon and Cai Be sluices a total of 4 times.
According to research results, most areas in the Mekong Delta have subsided from 0.5-3 cm/year; coastal areas commonly subsided from 1.5-2.5 cm/year. Regarding the current status of riverbank and coastal erosion, from 2016 to present, 812 landslides have appeared with a total length of over 1,191 km, of which, particularly dangerous landslides are 315 points/601 km. In addition, in recent years, the Mekong Delta has experienced 3 severe droughts and floods, with 2 historically high periods in the dry seasons of 2015-2016 and 2019-2020...
Cai Lon sluice gate will operate continuously from the beginning of the 2025 dry season to regulate water for Kien Giang province and neighboring provinces. Photo: DUY NHAN
Two groups of response solutions
Currently, the Mekong Delta region has not yet zoned the risks of subsidence, landslides, flooding, drought, and salinity as prescribed by the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control; has been slow to delineate areas where groundwater exploitation is restricted, especially areas where over-exploitation causes rapid subsidence; there is a lack of good operational coordination between irrigation systems in case of extreme weather causing salinity to penetrate deep into the fields...
Forecasting drought and salinity has only been relatively accurate in the main river mouths; there is a lack of comprehensive and synchronous solutions. The handling of subsidence and landslides on river banks and coastlines is still basically situational. The dyke and irrigation infrastructure is not yet complete and closed, many dykes and embankments are degraded, and there is a risk of incidents during the rainy and flood season. The urbanization rate is increasing rapidly, and the irrigation and drainage infrastructure cannot keep up...
At the meeting, representatives of ministries, branches and localities focused on discussing groups of engineering and non-engineering solutions. Leaders of the People's Committees of the Mekong Delta provinces said that fundamentally and in the long term, it is necessary to complete and close irrigation systems to control landslides, regulate floods, ensure fresh water sources for production and daily life of the people; focus on handling coastal and riverbank areas that are dangerously eroded; resolve local flooding caused by high tides; unify resettlement programs for people moving out of areas with landslides on riverbanks, canals, and ditches... Accordingly, two groups of solutions: engineering and non-engineering in preventing land subsidence, landslides, flooding, drought, and landslides in the Mekong Delta were discussed. In which, non-engineering solutions include: Completing laws, mechanisms, and policies; implementing integrated water resources management; conducting basic surveys and building databases; Strengthening forecasting and warning capacity... Construction solutions focus on building, consolidating and upgrading comprehensive, multi-purpose and type-specific prevention works, prioritizing a number of projects connecting and transferring water between irrigation systems in Tien Giang, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau peninsula; sluice systems along Tien and Hau rivers to control floods and inundation, combined with dredging and storing fresh water in the main canals of Dong Thap Muoi and Long Xuyen Quadrangle regions...
Speaking at the direction, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to develop a detailed and specific program to be implemented from 2025 in the spirit of "speaking and acting". "The program must specifically propose the scope, objectives, solutions (construction and non-construction), management mechanisms, project portfolio, funding sources... The goal is to solve immediate, urgent problems without regret, in a consistent and interconnected manner, promoting the overall effectiveness of projects suitable for the three freshwater - brackish - saline ecological zones, harmoniously combining irrigation and transportation" - the Deputy Prime Minister requested. The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Ministry of Construction and localities to review, supplement planning, integrate programs and projects to support resettlement of people due to landslides, and prevent natural disasters in the Mekong Delta into the group of urgent tasks of the program.
Saltwater intrusion decreased sharply after March 15
According to the Department of Irrigation Works Management and Construction, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, after March 15, the salinity in the Mekong River estuaries will pass its peak, the flow from upstream to the Mekong Delta will increase sharply, and salinity will tend to decrease rapidly. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of the provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region needs to closely monitor the forecast information on water resources and salinity provided by specialized and scientific agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment; promptly develop a plan to organize the operation of irrigation works within a range of 30 km or more from the sea to take advantage of water to irrigate crops and people's lives, change and clean the system, store water, and serve the 2025 Summer-Autumn rice crop.
Gia Lai proactively prevents forest fires in the dry season
Gia Lai province is in the peak of the dry season, so far all localities are at level IV, V in terms of forest fires. Mr. Duong Mah Tiep, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, signed an urgent dispatch requesting relevant units to implement measures for forest fire prevention and control in the 2024-2025 dry season in the area. Mr. Nguyen Van Hoan, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Gia Lai province, said that he had requested the Forest Protection Department and forest owners to arrange forces to be on duty 24/7 on hot days, in key areas and areas at risk of forest fires to guard and manage slash-and-burn cultivation activities; inspect, supervise and instruct households on techniques for handling vegetation in slash-and-burn cultivation to prevent fires from spreading into the forest; strictly control people entering and leaving the forest, strictly prohibit all activities using fire in and near the forest; detect forest fires early, organize timely fire fighting, and minimize the occurrence of large forest fires in the area.
H.Thanh
Source: https://nld.com.vn/uu-tien-du-an-cap-bach-da-muc-tieu-196250312215853252.htm
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