The Trà Lọt River in Tiền Giang Province’s Cái Bè District, whose banks are eroded. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Trí

TIỀN GIANG — Tiền Giang Province’s two upstream districts along the Tiền River are repairing 3.3km of eroded river and canal banks at 79 locations at a cost of VNĐ67.6 billion (US$2.9 million) raised from various sources.

Cai Lậy District accounts for the bulk of the repair work with Cái Bè only having seven eroded places with a total length of 150m.  

The Tiền River is a major tributary of the Mekong, and Cai Lậy and Cái Bè districts have dense river and canal networks and face high erosion risks.

Changes in water flows, the use of the waterways by a huge number of boats and weak banks are the main causes of erosion, according to local authorities.

Erosion in the two districts is severe, and poses a threat to property and public safety, they said.

It occurs along major rivers such as the Ba Rày, Phú An and Bà Tồn in Cai Lậy District, and Trà Lọt, Cái Cối and Cái Bè and the Canal 28 in Cái Bè District.

Lê Văn Ý, deputy chairman of the Cái Bè People’s Committee, said the Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development has been instructed to assess the situation and local authorities have been told to repair newly eroded places and ensure infrastructure and transport safety.   

Cai Lậy District authorities have ordered an inspection of the erosion situation by communes and towns. They need to mobilise money and make plans to repair eroded places, they added.

The two also have some large erosion prevention projects funded by the Government.

They include a 912m embankment costing VNĐ118 billion ($5 million) to prevent erosion in Tân Phong island in the Tiền River in Cai Lậy, and a 706m embankment costing VNĐ57 billion ($2.4 million) along Canal 28 in Cái Bè.

The province has asked the Government for VNĐ300 billion ($12.8 million) for a project along the Cái Bè River in Cái Bè District to protect 560ha of farmlands, houses and people.

It has instructed the two districts to repair eroded places and relocate houses and infrastructure from erosion-affected places to safer areas.

In the cases of severe erosion that cannot be handled at the district level, it has instructed the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to suggest measures to repair them. — VNS