When will Ba Cum field stop being flooded?

It is worth mentioning that this flooding has been going on for many years, causing many difficulties for the people here in farming and agricultural production. Although the authorities from the province to the locality have conducted surveys and developed a treatment plan, so far, it has not been implemented.

Ba Cum field is deeply flooded after heavy rain.

Mobilize maximum pumps to save rice

Mr. Pham Dinh De (residing in Loc Tien quarter, Loc Hung ward) had to mobilize 3 water pumps to save the rice. His family cultivates more than 18 hectares of rice in Ba Cum field, Loc Trung hamlet, Hung Thuan commune.

On the evening of April 29, heavy rains occurred in this area, causing the entire rice field of his family and dozens of other households to be partially flooded. To pump out the water, he mobilized 5 gasoline pumps, which have been running since April 29 until now, but only 3 are still operating, the remaining 2 are damaged due to having to operate continuously for many days.

According to Mr. De, the Ba Cum field area is hundreds of hectares wide, located along the main Dong canal. Due to the low elevation of the field, a drainage channel was formed along the banks of the main Dong canal. However, over the years, the canal has been silted up and the trees have become wild.

In addition, many people arbitrarily install culverts across the canal, and some duck farmers even install barriers across the canal to make duck farms, obstructing the flow. Every time there is heavy rain, the water has no way to drain, causing localized flooding for many years.

Farmers mobilized many water pumps to save newly sown rice.

Farmer Bui Van Bon (born in 1953), residing in Loc Trung hamlet, Hung Thuan commune, said that his family has nearly 1 hectare of rice in Ba Cum field. This year's Summer-Autumn rice crop was only planted for 5 days when it was completely submerged by water. Currently, he and other households have to gather dozens of machines to continuously pump water into the canal to save the rice. However, due to many obstacles (small drains, fences with trash, tree branches), the water level in the canal is higher than the field surface, the pumped water drains very slowly, and some of it seeps back into the field.

Sharing more about the flooding situation in Ba Cum field, Mr. Bon said that in recent years, many people from other places have come to buy land along the main Dong canal to build gardens and livestock farms, among which, some households have arbitrarily installed drainage pipes across the canal and then built fences on top. Households that raise ducks intentionally install fences with B40 wire mesh across the canal, limiting the flow to store water to keep ducks, causing the flooding situation in this field to recur continuously.

Unable to contain his frustration about the repeated flooding over the years, Mr. Phung Van Han (65 years old), a rice farmer in Ba Cum field, said that although located next to the left bank of the main Dong canal, this field is like a "navel" of flooding, the entire field is over 100 hectares but there is only one drainage canal located next to the main Dong canal and is still encroached upon. People have repeatedly voiced their opinions and requested the authorities to handle cases of arbitrarily placing sewers and building duck pens, but for some reason, it has not been resolved yet?

Local also waiting?

Speaking over the phone, Mr. Phan Van Rot - Vice Chairman of Hung Thuan Commune People's Committee said that according to statistics, about 30 hectares of newly sown rice were flooded in the rain at the end of April 2025. The flooding situation in Ba Cum field has been happening for many years, at meetings with voters and People's Council delegates at all levels, people have repeatedly expressed their opinions.

The water level of the N23-2-2T drainage canal is higher than the field surface, making it even more difficult to pump water out to save the rice.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Kien - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Trang Bang town said that at the end of 2023, the leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (now the Department of Agriculture and Environment) in collaboration with Tay Ninh Irrigation Exploitation Company Limited, Southern Irrigation Exploitation Company Limited (the unit managing and operating the Dau Tieng - Phuoc Hoa irrigation project, including the main Dong canal), Trang Bang town People's Committee and Hung Thuan commune conducted a survey of the flooding situation in the Ba Cum field area, the drainage situation of the N23-2-2T drainage canal to ensure drainage, especially during the rainy season.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh - Head of the Irrigation Sub-Department (under the Department of Agriculture and Environment) said that after a field survey and working with relevant units, the Department's leaders agreed to request the Southern Irrigation Exploitation Company Limited to request the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment 's approval to dredge and renovate the N23-2-2T canal to completely resolve the flooding situation in Ba Cum field.

The Department's leaders also requested local authorities to mobilize and remove the situation of arbitrarily installing cross-channel culverts that are not in accordance with irrigation project specifications and barriers that obstruct the flow of the N23-2-2T drainage canal.

N23-2-2T channel will be dredged in July 2025

Mr. Tran Quang Hung - General Director of Southern Irrigation Exploitation Company Limited said that, following the direction of the superior agency, Southern Irrigation Exploitation Company Limited was allowed to repair degraded items, ensuring safety of the works during the flood season, including the N23-2-2T canal with capital from the 2024 flood and storm prevention support fund of Tay Ninh province.

However, since this is not a state budget allocated to the company by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, during the implementation process, the company sent a document to the Ministry, Tay Ninh Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Finance regarding instructions on using the province's 2024 flood and storm prevention support fund.

However, the current response documents are not yet specific and detailed enough for the company to carry out procedures to submit to competent authorities for approval of financial settlement according to the State Budget Law and current legal regulations.

The N23-2-2T canal is deserted, restricting the flow and making the flooding situation worse.

To resolve the above-mentioned difficulties and obstacles, promptly implement the repair of degraded items, and ensure the safety of the project during the flood season, on April 4, 2025, the company continued to send a document requesting the Department of Finance to provide specific guidance on the budget settlement dossier, including the documents to be submitted and the steps to be taken according to the provisions of the State Budget Law; the competent authority to approve the settlement, clearly defining the roles of the People's Committee of Tay Ninh province, the Department of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, as well as the process of reviewing and approving the State budget settlement.

Canal N23-2-2T is occupied and fenced by many households to raise ducks.

According to Mr. Hung, in case the Department of Finance soon has instructions on implementing the above contents, the Southern Irrigation Exploitation Company Limited will carry out dredging and clearing the N23-2-2T canal in July 2025.

Nguyen An

Source: https://baotayninh.vn/bao-gio-canh-dong-ba-cum-het-ngap-a189673.html