Eighty years ago, on May 22, 1946, President Ho Chi Minh signed Decree No. 70 establishing the Central Committee for Dike Protection – the first specialized agency for disaster prevention and control in the country. This milestone reflects the consistent ideology of the Party and the State regarding the task of protecting the lives and property of the people from natural disasters.
For Hanoi , disaster prevention and control is of particular importance. After the expansion of its administrative boundaries, the city's dike and irrigation system is large-scale, with over 700km of dikes, nearly 90 irrigation reservoirs, nearly 2,000 electric pumping stations, and over 3,600km of canals, widely distributed across 126 communes and wards.
Over the years, Hanoi has frequently faced various types of natural disasters and incidents such as heavy rain, storms, floods, landslides, subsidence, and forest fires. In this context, the Department of Agriculture and Environment has proactively advised the city on the implementation of numerous programs, plans, and measures for disaster prevention and control; inspected and reviewed dike and irrigation works; and prepared personnel, materials, and equipment according to the "four on-the-spot" principle.
In addition, attention has been paid to propaganda, training, and drills. During the period 2021-2025, the city organized 180 training conferences for grassroots rapid response forces with 5,363 participants; 150 propaganda conferences combined with competitions on disaster prevention and control with 22,624 participants; and 40 drills at the commune level.
In particular, during major natural disasters such as Typhoon Yagi in 2024, Typhoons No. 10 and No. 11, and the historic floods in 2025, the city's forces closely monitored the situation, operated infrastructure, handled incidents, organized responses, and mitigated the consequences. Specifically during the 2025 disaster, communes and wards mobilized over 40,000 people and more than 1,000 vehicles; the military, police, agricultural, and irrigation forces all participated in protecting the lives and property of the people.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Environment, Nguyen Dinh Hoa, emphasized that these achievements are the result of the persistent and silent contributions of many generations of officials in the irrigation, dike, and disaster prevention and control sectors. Throughout history, previous generations have always stayed close to the projects and the local areas, guarding the dikes and preventing floods day and night, contributing to building a solid foundation for disaster prevention and control in the capital city today.
Besides the achievements, the city also frankly acknowledges that disaster prevention and control still face many difficulties and challenges. These include the need to improve the quality of real-time forecasting and warning; address violations of laws on dikes and irrigation; ensure water security; and overcome the shortcomings in the preparation of plans, implementation of the "four on-the-spot" principle, and information and reporting in some communes and wards.
To meet the demands of the new situation, the Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Environment requested that units continue to tighten discipline and responsibility, especially the responsibility of the head of the unit; innovate thinking, improve professional capacity; and strengthen the application of information technology and digital transformation in forecasting, warning, communication, training, and drills.
The city also continues to mobilize and effectively utilize resources to repair and upgrade infrastructure and equipment serving disaster prevention and control; accelerate the progress of key projects on dykes, irrigation, drainage, and the environment; and regularly review and update plans for responding to natural disasters, protecting dykes, preventing flooding, ensuring dam safety, and preventing and fighting forest fires.
The 80th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day for Disaster Prevention and Control is not only an opportunity to look back on the journey so far, but also calls for more decisive and proactive action in prevention and response, contributing to protecting the safety of the people and the sustainable development of the capital city.
Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/ha-noi-doi-moi-tu-duy-phong-chong-thien-tai-784466.html
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