Work is being carried out at a site that eroded after a temporary dam was removed on the Ba Lai River in Bến Tre Province’s Châu Thành District. — VNA/VNS Photo Công Trí

BẾN TRE — The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Bến Tre is restoring a section along the banks of the Ba Lai River that eroded when a temporary dam was removed along the banks.

The repair in Châu Thành District’s Phú Đức and Tân Phú communes is expected to be completed by the end of the month, according to the province’s Agriculture and Rural Development Project Management Board.

The temporary dam was put into use on March 5 to prevent saltwater intrusion through the river into fields in the dry season, and to preserve fresh water for agricultural production and household use in Châu Thành District and Bến Tre City.

The dam was removed on May 7-11 to recover the normal flow of the river after saltwater intrusion ended. However, the removal caused erosion along the two river banks because of the weak soil and the impact of the removal work.

About 170 sq.m of farmland and 100 metre soil embankment along the river bank in Tân Phú Commune eroded and fell into the river. At the other river bank in Phú Đức Commune, erosion caused a 40 metre section of a 3.4m-wide road to fall into the river.

The investment for the dam was from HCM City-based Ngọc Á Châu Construction Corporation, which is the dam contractor, and the province’s Agriculture and Rural Development Project Management Board.

Lương Bình of the management board said after the erosion incident occurred, the management board and the contractor took measures to solve the erosion.

Trương Văn Vẹm, deputy of the Phú Đức Commune People’s Committee, said the contractor has used machines and sandbags to prevent erosion at the river bank in Tân Phú Commune and tree stumps and soil to fill the eroded section of the road in Phú Đức Commune.

People can now travel on the repaired section, but travel is still difficult because the erosion prevention work is not finished, he said. — VNS