ĐỒNG THÁP — The Đồng Tháp Province’s People’s Committee has asked the Government to provide VNĐ82 billion (US$3.6 million) in funds to move local residents’ property from landslide  and flood-prone areas to new residential areas.

The funds would also be used to build the new residential areas for households living in erosion-prone areas along riverbanks.

The southern province has asked the Government to conduct research to build a 2.3-km embankment along the Tiền River in Thanh Bình District.

In Thanh Bình’s Bình Thành Commune, four landslide cases occurred in early April, with a total length of 210m and eroded area of 3,250sq.m.

The landslide areas are located 15-25 metres from National Highway No 30.  More than 200 households as well as infrastructure was affected. 

According to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the landslide situation is getting worse.

At least 45 communes, wards and towns in the province have been hit by landslides at different levels.

Last Thursday, a group of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development visited Đồng Tháp to inspect the landslides in the province.

The officials said that sand over-exploitation was one of the causes of the landslides.

Trần Quang Hoài, deputy head of the ministry’s Department of Irrigation, praised the efforts of Đồng Tháp in relocating residents living in landslide-prone areas and building construction works to mitigate the risk of erosion.

Đồng Tháp authorities should speed up the process of building erosion-prevention works and inspect the quality of the works, he said.

Infrastructure projects and residential areas should not be built along landslide-prone areas, he said. — VNS