HCM City (VNS/VNA) - A number of provinces in the Mekong Deltafacing serious erosion along rivers and coastal areas are taking measures toprotect the land and people in the area.

The provinces are Long An, the two upstream provinces of An Giang and Dong Thap,and the coastal provinces of Ben Tre, Soc Trang and Ca Mau.

Long An province has declared an urgent erosion situation along the Can GiuocRiver along a length of 2.4 kilometres in Can Giuoc district.

Pham Van Canh, vice chairman of the Long An provincial People’s Committee, hasasked local authorities to ban people from entering eroded areas.

Local authorities should also help locals move to safe areas and take urgentmeasures to prevent erosion, he said. 

In Soc Trang Province, seven dangerous eroded areas exist along rivers in MyXuyen, Long Phu, Ke Sach and Cu Lao Dung districts, Vinh Chau town and SocTrang city.

The erosion area at the Rach Lop river section in Ke Sach district and erosionareas at the Hau and Saintard rivers in Long Phu district are especiallydangerous. 

Soc Trang province has an especially dangerous eroded area along a coastalsection that runs from the border with Bac Lieu province to Sluice Gate No. 4in Vinh Chau town.

The Soc Trang provincial People’s Committee has told local authorities to takeurgent measures, including building submerged embankments and revetments toprotect dikes.

The province has had more than 30 erosion cases so far this year, causingproperty damage worth hundreds of millions of dong.

Ben Tre province has 112 eroded areas with a total length of 140 kilometresalong rivers and coast.

Of these, four eroded areas with a total length of nearly seven kilometresalong rivers and coastal areas need urgent protection.

The four eroded areas are in Ba Tri, Thanh Phu and Binh Dai districts and BenTre city.

Cao Van Trong, chairman of the Ben Tre provincial People’s Committee, said thatpeople should move their property out of the eroded areas.

The localities should set up warning boards and barriers to prevent people andvehicles from travelling into the eroded areas, he said.

In Ca Mau province, more than 25 kilometres of estuaries and coast and 1.2kilometres of rivers need urgent measures, according to the province’s People’sCommittee.

The eroded areas are especially dangerous, directly affecting residentialareas, administrative areas, education and healthcare facilities, and NationalHighway No. 1A and protection forests.

The erosion situation at Vam Xoay estuary in Ngoc Hien district, for instance,is complicated and protection forests at the estuary have lost about 80-100metres of land each year. 

The Ca Mau provincial People’s Committee has decided to builderosion-prevention embankments at Vam Xoay, Rach Goc and Hoc Nang estuaries in NgocHien district and Ho Gui estuary locating between Nam Can and Dam Doi districts.

It will also build several embankments along canals in Ngoc Hien and Nam Can districts.

The Ca Mau provincial People’s Committee has petitioned the Government tosupport the province with 74 billion VND (3.18 million USD) for projects toprotect its western sea dyke, property and local residents./.