As a large city with rapid urbanization, Hanoi still has 25 communes and wards with forests and mountainous terrain, steep hills stretching out, surrounding the capital. The approaching rainy and stormy season is also the time when the risk of landslides, flash floods in these areas becomes real, threatening the safety of thousands of households living near the forest.
Faced with the complicated developments of storm No. 3, the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Environment has issued urgent instructions, requiring localities and functional units to proactively take effective prevention and response plans.
Potentially dangerous hotspots
According to statistics from the Hanoi Forest Protection Department, the city currently has nearly 27,100 hectares of forest and forestry land, including dozens of natural forest areas, protective forests and forestry land scattered in communes with steep mountainous terrain, weak geology, thin cover and often affected by prolonged heavy rain.
During the rainy and stormy seasons of previous years, landslides and fallen trees caused traffic jams, damaged houses, and even injured people in the communes of Xuan Mai, Huong Son, Kim Anh, Phu Cat, Quoc Oai, Yen Bai, and Ba Vi.
Typically, on July 24, 2024, a landslide occurred in the mountainous commune of Phu Man, Quoc Oai district (now Phu Cat commune, Hanoi city), causing a house to collapse. Although there were no human casualties, the property damage was about 2 billion VND.
Or in Minh Quang commune, Ba Vi district (now Ba Vi commune, Hanoi city), a large landslide buried the inter-village road, isolating about 30 households for many hours.
Previously, during the 2023 storm season, a serious landslide occurred in the Ban Tien Lake area, Minh Phu Commune, Soc Son District (now Kim Anh Commune, Hanoi City), causing many vehicles to be stuck... This is a lesson for landslide prevention and preparedness in mountainous communes when the storm season comes.
However, according to Nguyen Tien Lam, Deputy Head of the Hanoi Forest Protection Department, the worrying issue is that many residential areas are located near vulnerable areas, but warning and evacuation work has not been systematically implemented by localities. The fact that people are still subjective and lack prevention skills is also a factor that increases the risk of damage.
Tighten inspection, supervision and response readiness
To effectively respond to storm No. 3 and ensure safety for people in forested areas, on July 20, the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 08/CD-UBND, requesting the entire political system to take drastic action.
On that basis, the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Environment has assigned the Irrigation and Disaster Prevention Sub-Department to coordinate with the Forestry Sub-Department and relevant localities and units to synchronously deploy many measures to prevent landslides.
Specifically, the People's Committees of localities with forests are required to proactively review mountainous areas, riverbanks, and steep areas that are prone to flash floods and landslides during heavy rains; have plans to evacuate people from dangerous areas, ensuring absolute safety of life and property; timely information on signs of flash floods and forest landslides must be sent to the Forest Protection Department for synthesis and direction of handling.
At the same time, local forest rangers coordinated with commune authorities and village chiefs to increase propaganda and mobilize people to be highly vigilant, especially in hilly areas and residential areas near forests. Households contracted to protect forests were also reminded to regularly monitor weather developments and proactively report unusual phenomena such as cracks in the ground and landslides.
The Hanoi Wildlife Rescue Center, which manages a large area of semi-natural forest in the city, has activated a 24/7 response plan. Patrols are deployed in key areas, ready to coordinate with local authorities to evacuate animals and prevent trees from falling or causing traffic jams during the storm season.
A notable point is that all Forest Protection Departments are required to promptly report to the Sub-Department when detecting landslides, flash floods, and flash floods via hotline 0248.589.3808 - helping to improve the efficiency of on-site handling and rescue in emergency situations.
According to Nguyen Manh Phuong, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Environment, landslides and flash floods are not uncommon in forested communes in Hanoi, but in the past, response was often passive and unsynchronized. This time, the city's departments and agencies have shown efforts to shift from "reaction" to "proactive prevention".
However, according to many environmental experts, to reduce damage caused by forest landslides, the joint efforts of local people are needed. In addition to participating in propaganda sessions, people need to be aware of protecting forests, not exploiting indiscriminately, and not building illegally in areas with unstable terrain. Each household living near the forest needs to become a "warning point" on the spot, detecting and reporting unusual signs in a timely manner. Local authorities also need to invest in more monitoring equipment, landslide risk warning maps; develop specific evacuation plans for each area; and organize annual disaster prevention drills...
Landslides, flash floods, and flash floods are potential dangers in many mountainous communes of Hanoi, especially during the rainy and stormy season. Only when localities, authorities, and people are united and proactive from forecasting to response plans, can we protect the safety of communities living near forests. And, preventing landslides is not only the responsibility of the forestry sector but also a practical action of the entire political system for the sustainable safety of the capital...
Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/ha-noi-chu-dong-phong-chong-sat-lo-dat-da-khu-vuc-rung-nui-709865.html
![[Photo] National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man visits Vietnamese Heroic Mother Ta Thi Tran](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/7/20/765c0bd057dd44ad83ab89fe0255b783)
Comment (0)