HÀ NỘI — More than 2,000 households along the Hồng (Red) and the Thái Bình rivers will be relocated as part of the new national plan for flood prevention and control.

This was announced by Vũ Xuân Thành, head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Department of Dyke Management.

Under the new plan, 2,032 households on the narrow river bank, including those in the Thạch Đồng Commune in northern Phú Thọ Province and in 11 communes in Hà Nội, will be moved to another place.

Some 700,000 households were relocated under the previous plan, which was approved by the government in 2007.

Thành said changes in climate conditions, hydrology and socio-economic development had forced the ministry to make modifications to the plan. Moreover, the construction of hydro-power plants along the Đà, Lô and the Thao rivers in China had led to changes in the rivers’ flow and the riverbeds.

As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recalculated the number of households to be relocated in the new plan.

In response to a query on the measures being undertaken to stablise the lives of the affected households, Thành said the local authorities will be responsible for setting up detailed plans with specific solutions.

The local authorities can propose to use the local budget for relocation or can mobilise capital from businesses. They will also be responsible for arranging accommodation for the displaced households, he said.

The ministry has asked the government to give permission to local authorities to allocate five per cent of the area on the river banks to build housing for affected households. — VNS