Bac Ninh: Helping people in areas affected by natural disasters stabilize their lives

BAC NINH - Currently, many areas in Bac Ninh province are at high risk of landslides and unsafety when storms occur, causing anxiety for people. Although the functional sectors have coordinated with local authorities to implement many solutions, sustainable social security policies are still needed so that people in areas affected by natural disasters have stable housing and peace of mind to work and produce.

Constant worry

From June 19 to 30, in Bao Tan village, Hop Thinh commune (former Hiep Hoa district), many landslides occurred, directly affecting 9 households with nearly 40 people. The most dangerous landslide was about 30 meters long, deep into the riverbank, causing the wall to collapse and encroaching on the yard of Mr. Ngo Van Truong's house. Facing the risk of further landslides, Hop Thinh commune authorities urgently evacuated 5 families with 19 people to temporary accommodation at the headquarters of the People's Committee of Dai Thanh commune (formerly) and the houses of relatives. For more than half a month, the lives of the families have been clearly disrupted; everyone hopes that the incident will be resolved soon so they can return home.

People who lost their homes due to landslides in Van An neighborhood are temporarily staying in a kindergarten.

Previously, in March 2024, serious landslides occurred in Nguyet Duc, Tho Ha, Yen Vien villages (former Van Ha commune) and Van Phuc quarter (Van An ward, Bac Ninh city, former Bac Ninh province), causing dozens of households living on both sides of the Cau River to lose their homes and property. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao, an affected resident who is temporarily staying at Van An Kindergarten, shared: "Thanks to the government's care and support, no one was injured when the landslide occurred. Although we have to stay temporarily, we feel warm because we live in solidarity, supporting each other to overcome difficult times."

Not only in the Cau River area, in mountainous communes such as Tay Yen Tu, Tuan Dao, Tan Hoa, etc., recently, many households have been forced to evacuate urgently due to landslides. The main cause is that the geological foundation at the landslide sites is mainly sandy alluvial soil, which is prone to landslides when there is prolonged heavy rain and the river water level is low.

Speed up the construction of resettlement areas

Thanks to proactive propaganda and timely warnings, the landslides did not cause any human casualties, but they greatly affected the lives of the people. Comrade Nguyen Van Hieu, Vice Chairman of Kinh Bac Ward People's Committee, said: Immediately after the landslide in March 2024, which caused dozens of households to lose their homes, the People's Committee of Bac Ninh Province (old) allocated more than 28 billion VND from the budget to build a riverbank protection embankment with a length of about 130 m; at the same time, reinforced against riverbed erosion with loose stones, stone mats and auxiliary items. In addition, the locality urgently built a 2.6-hectare resettlement area. Currently, the contractor is speeding up the construction progress, and is expected to hand over the site by August. The province has also completed the plan to build resettlement land prices, the ceiling price for compensation for affected households and organized people to draw lots for land plot locations. Local authorities will continue to support administrative procedures, consider and facilitate access to preferential loans so that eligible people can soon build new houses.

To ensure social security for people in disaster-hit areas, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment and localities are implementing synchronous solutions, including: Building resettlement areas with full infrastructure of electricity, water, health, education; implementing policies to support sustainable livelihoods such as vocational training, preferential credit, and guiding people to reorganize production in accordance with new living conditions.

On the left bank of the Cau River, before merging administrative boundaries, Viet Yen town (old) had developed a project to stabilize the population in the disaster area of Van Ha commune (now Van Ha ward), with a scale of 5 hectares, implemented in the period of 2023 - 2026 with a total investment of 71.2 billion VND. The authorities have approved a list of 139 households with nearly 500 people in Yen Vien, Tho Ha, and Nguyet Duc villages who do not have houses and wish to go ashore, and will be moved to the resettlement area. However, according to local leaders, the project implementation process encountered difficulties because the commune is located in the flood escape corridor, so the locality proposed that the province pay attention to removing difficulties so that the project can be implemented on schedule soon, meeting the expectations of the people.

Mobilizing all resources to protect dikes

Implementing the direction of the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee on proactively responding to natural disasters, localities in the province are actively implementing dike repair according to the "4 on-site" motto. These days, in My Thai commune, the Commune's Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Control and Search and Rescue is mobilizing maximum forces and means to handle the dike landslide that occurred on July 7. The riverside landslide stretches for dozens of meters, with some sections eating into the dike body from 1 to 1.5 meters, threatening the lives of dozens of households and many crop areas. After a week of peak handling, the landslide locations have basically been fixed.

Similarly, in Hop Thinh commune, the local government coordinated with Hiep Hoa Dike Management Department to establish a Dike Protection Command Team to urgently handle the landslide on the left dike of Cau bridge through Bao Tan village. The plan to expand the dike surface has been agreed upon, and hundreds of workers with vehicles, excavators, rollers, etc. are currently working day and night, striving to fix the problem as soon as possible. Due to many difficulties, the People's Committee of the commune requested the province to provide financial support.

To ensure social security for people in disaster-affected areas, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment and localities are implementing synchronous solutions, including: Building resettlement areas with full infrastructure of electricity, water, health, education; implementing policies to support sustainable livelihoods such as vocational training, preferential credit, and guiding people to reorganize production in accordance with new living conditions. In mountainous and highland communes, localities coordinate with the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions to mobilize resources from the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas to build houses and essential infrastructure works.

In the long term, according to Mr. Dang Cong Huong, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the Department will continue to advise the province to promptly allocate funding sources, invest in renovating and upgrading natural disaster prevention and control systems such as dykes, river embankments, drainage culverts, and irrigation systems; promote the application of digital technology to forecast, provide early warning, raise public awareness, and closely coordinate with local authorities in evacuating and relocating people when necessary. At the same time, resolutely and strictly handle cases of illegal construction that violate the safety corridors of dykes, riverbanks, and streams.

Article and photos: Duong Hoan - Mai Toan

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/bac-ninh-giup-nguoi-dan-vung-bi-anh-huong-boi-thien-tai-on-dinh-doi-song-postid421931.bbg