Hanoi urgently overcomes landslides on forest fire prevention and fighting roads

Faced with serious landslides on five forest fire prevention and fighting roads in Kim Anh and Trung Gia communes, the Hanoi People's Committee has issued a decision declaring an emergency situation and ordered urgent construction to handle and restore damaged roads.

This is an urgent solution to ensure safety for protective forests and proactively respond to the risk of forest fires in the 2025-2026 dry season.

Scene of a landslide in Trung Gia commune. Photo: Duc Duy

Many landslides, traffic cut off

According to the Hanoi Wildlife Rescue Center, in the two communes of Kim Anh and Trung Gia, there are 5 forest fire prevention and fighting routes with a total length of more than 27.7km. Currently, these routes have been degraded for many years. In particular, after the impact of storms No. 10 and 11, the damage has become particularly serious. Statistics show that in these two communes, there are 183 landslides, nearly 500 fallen trees, the volume of soil and rock spilled onto the road, estimated at nearly 4,000m³, many sections have eroded the negative slope and are completely cut off.

According to Ta Duy Long, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Wildlife Rescue Center, there are landslides that are dozens of meters wide and deep, forming a frog’s jaw. It is difficult for motorbikes to pass, let alone fire trucks or specialized equipment. If a forest fire breaks out in such a cut-off road condition, the risk of damage is very high.

The main cause was determined to be prolonged heavy rains that saturated the dirt roadbed, causing a sharp decline in physical and mechanical properties, destabilizing the road structure. The growth of forest trees in steep slopes was also affected, increasing the sliding force and risk of landslides.

Deputy Head of Forest Ranger Department No. 4 Le Van Duc said that the forest rangers encountered many difficulties in patrolling: “At many landslide sites, forest rangers had to walk for hours, carrying hand tools because motor vehicles could not move. Under these conditions, if just a spark of fire appeared in the protective forest, the ability to control would be greatly slowed down.”

Not only challenging forest fire prevention and fighting, landslides also pose a direct danger to authorities and people living and passing through the area.

Faced with the above situation, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen signed a decision to declare a natural disaster emergency for 5 forest fire prevention and fighting routes in Kim Anh and Trung Gia, and at the same time issued an Order to build emergency works to handle landslides and restore forest road infrastructure.

According to the emergency order, localities must immediately isolate landslide sites, send guards, warn people not to enter dangerous areas; organize regular monitoring to promptly detect new developments. Functional forces are also required to temporarily reinforce, ensure safety of constructions and safety of forest fire prevention and fighting forces.

A representative of the City Civil Defense Command Office informed that in the current context, response must follow the 4-on-the-spot principle. The City Civil Defense Command has directed the strengthening of local support forces, forest rangers and the Wildlife Rescue Center to organize on-site inspections, warn of risks and coordinate handling.

Along with that, the Department of Agriculture and Environment is assigned to preside over and closely monitor the landslide developments, and at the same time widely inform people to proactively prevent and minimize risks in the approaching dry season.

The illegal buying and selling of forest land in Kim Anh commune is also the cause of landslides every rainy season. Photo: Duc Duy

Invest 20 billion VND to build emergency projects

In the Emergency Construction Order, the city assigned the Department of Agriculture and Environment as the investor to carry out the project of repairing 5 roads with a total length of about 27.8km, with a total estimated investment of 20 billion VND, using the city budget. The project must be completed before June 15, 2026.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Xuan Dai said that this is an urgent task. The Department will implement it in accordance with the provisions of the law on special projects and emergency projects; at the same time, closely follow the reality to unify the plan with the forestry infrastructure development project under appraisal, ensuring no overlap and no waste.

The Department also requested consulting units to speed up survey and design; promptly propose optimal solutions, to ensure both urgency and sustainability. The treatment options must take into account the steep terrain, the characteristics of the protective forests in Kim Anh and Trung Gia communes and the operating conditions of the forest fire prevention and fighting force.

For the project management unit, the Wildlife Rescue Center, the city requires continued close coordination with forest rangers and local authorities in monitoring and protecting forests; preparing forest fire prevention and fighting plans suitable for temporary infrastructure during construction.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Wildlife Rescue Center Ta Duy Long shared: “When the road is degraded, forestry workers like us are very worried. The city's issuance of an emergency order not only helps overcome landslides, but also helps forest fire prevention and fighting forces to be more proactive, reducing pressure when forest fires occur.”

The Department of Finance is assigned to balance and allocate capital fully and promptly; relevant departments and branches must coordinate to ensure the project is implemented as quickly as possible, in full compliance with regulations on emergency construction quality management.

Hanoi’s issuance of an emergency situation and an order to build urgent works is not only to deal with the immediate risk of landslides, but more importantly, to ensure the safety of protective forests - the green lungs of the northern part of the capital. In the context of climate change increasing extreme weather events, forest fire prevention and fighting infrastructure must be strengthened promptly and continuously.

Mr. Ta Duy Long emphasized: “Forest fire prevention is a task that cannot be neglected. When the road is cut off, all fire fighting plans are delayed. Therefore, restoring the forest fire prevention and fighting road is restoring the capacity to protect the forest.”

With the timely decision of the city and the synchronous participation of all levels, sectors, localities and forest rangers, the emergency project is expected to be deployed quickly and effectively, contributing to ensuring forest safety in the dry season of 2025-2026 and the following years.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/ha-noi-khan-cap-khac-phuc-sat-lo-duong-phong-chay-chua-chay-rung-726176.html