HCM CITY – A crack on a road near the Rạch Tôm River in the outlying district of Nhà Bè in HCM City has sparked concerns over potential risks of landslide and subsidence in the area, according to the city’s Department of Transport.

A crack 40m long and 2-6cm wide was found on an alley in Nhà Bè District’s Nhơn Đức Commune early this week.

The crack, which initially was located one to six metres from the Rạch Tôm River, has now widened to 10-20cm in some sections.

Several households nearby reported cracks along their walls, according to the Transport Department’s Inland Waterway Management Division.

Initial evaluations showed that the crack could affect an area of 500-600sq m, including eight houses, two utility poles, a section of an underground water pipeline, and a bridge.

After the crack was found, the Inland Waterway Management Division asked the people’s committees of Nhơn Đức Commune and Nhà Bè District to relocate affected households and set up warning signs to notify local residents.

Five households were relocated after the crack was discovered.

To prevent the riverbank from being hit by waves, the city has limited the number of waterway vehicles travelling near the Rạch Tôm bank.

The waterway authority is also working with other agencies to assess the situation and adopt measures in the event that subsidence or landslides occur.

It has called on the Department of Transport to ask approval from the city to fortify the riverbank to prevent subsidence in the affected area.

According to Nguyễn Văn Lưu, secretary of Nhà Bè District’s Party Committee and chairman of the district’s People’s Committee, there were 325 households living in landslide-prone areas in Nhơn Đức, Hiệp Phước and Phước Lộc communes.

The city has given the district three land plots to resettle these households, he said.

Lê Văn Khoa, deputy chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, has urged Nhà Bè District to relocate all households exposed to threats of a landslide.

Khoa on Thursday, along with officials from the Department of Transport and irrigation experts, visited an alley near Lê Văn Lương Street.

Expert said that many vehicles travelling daily on Alley 1740, which was built on weak ground, are causing the land to subside.

Dr. Tô Văn Thanh, vice director of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, said the changing flow of the river, which had created a vortex, had led to erosion of the riverbank, causing a crack on the alley.

To prevent further erosion, Khoa asked government agencies to fill up the vortex within five days.

He also called on the district’s authority to move affected households to safe places and form a watchdog group to stop vehicles from travelling on the alley and report problems.

Initial evaluations showed that the crack could affect a 500-600sq m area, including eight houses, two utility poles, a section of an underground water pipeline, and a bridge.

The HCM City People’s Committee has agreed to use VNĐ300 million (US$13,200) from its budget to hire a consulting group to assess the situation at the Rạch Tôm River and fortify the riverbank to avoid landslide risks in the future.

Nguyễn Văn Lưu, secretary of Nhà Bè District’s Party Committee and chairman of the district’s People’s Committee, said there were 325 households living in landslide-prone areas in Nhơn Đức, Hiệp Phước and Phước Lộc communes.

The city has handed over three land plots to the district to resettle these households, he said. —VNS