I didn't dare stay inside the house at night.
Having been hit twice by landslides from Van Ca Vai mountain, with rocks and soil collapsing into their house, destroying the kitchen, livestock shed, and toilet, the family of five, including Mr. Dinh Ang and Mrs. Dinh Thi Theo (Lang Dau residential area, Di Lang town, Son Ha district, Quang Ngai province), lives in constant anxiety and fear whenever the rainy season arrives.
"Luckily, no one has died, but each time the landslide happens, it costs tens of millions of dong to repair the house. Twice like that, and we're already poor, so we're even poorer," Mrs. Thẻo lamented.
This year, the authorities are implementing an emergency landslide prevention project on Van Ca Vai mountain, marking the second time the mountain has been reinforced to prevent landslides. The project is being carried out during a period of heavy rain and thunderstorms, which caused flooding in Mrs. Theao's house.
"I don't know where the water is coming from, whether it's from the mountain or underground, but it's flowing right into the living room. The project is progressing quickly, but even after it's finished, my whole family won't dare stay here at night. We'll be worried about finding another place to take shelter, in case the mountain collapses again," Mrs. Thẻo worried.
Not far from Mrs. Thẻo's house is the house of Mrs. Trần Thị Thọ. Running a grocery store at the foot of the mountain to make a living, her family of six also faces the predicament of having to pack up and seek shelter elsewhere at night due to fear of landslides.
"The authorities held a meeting to gather opinions from the residents. This area has land belonging to 7 households, but only 5 households with houses are eligible for resettlement. I, along with Mrs. Thẻo's family and one other household, want to move. Of the remaining 2 households, one is hesitant, and the other disagrees because they own too much land here, while they would only get 100 square meters in the resettlement area without compensation, so they refuse," Mrs. Thọ said.
A few years ago, while crawling into a pigsty to sweep the floor, Mrs. Tho heard a loud crash, and then rocks and earth fell from above, collapsing two walls. Terrified, she screamed and ran out into the street. Since that night, neither she nor the other residents at the foot of the mountain dare stay home every evening.
During the day, despite knowing the danger, people are forced to "hold their breath" and leave their fate to chance as they return home to earn a living, care for their pigs and chickens, and clean up the mud that has flooded their houses. At night, they have to evacuate, fearing landslides and not knowing how to escape.
Ms. Tho said that the Van Ca Vai mountain had been experiencing landslides for many years. Despite previous landslide prevention projects, the mountain continued to collapse onto people's houses. Therefore, even after the second project is completed, she and her relatives still live in constant anxiety.
"For the past four years, we've been running away every rainy season. Since the second phase of the landslide prevention project started, whenever it rains heavily, I and several other households around here have to find somewhere else to live. Even after the project is finished, we still don't feel safe," said Mrs. Tho.
17 billion VND and 2 emergency landslide prevention measures.
In 2021, Van Ca Vai mountain experienced a landslide, threatening five houses at its foot. In June 2021, Son Ha district invested 3 billion VND in emergency construction to prevent further landslides.
Around the end of 2023, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Son Ha District issued a decision to hand over the emergency landslide prevention project on Van Ca Vai mountain to the People's Committee of Di Lang town for management.
However, during the rainy season of 2023, Van Ca Vai mountain continued to experience landslides, threatening the lives of local households. In 2024, Son Ha district invested 14 billion VND in emergency landslide prevention measures using funds from the central government to support disaster relief efforts following the 2023 landslides in Quang Ngai province.
Explaining why the Van Ca Vai mountain still suffered landslides despite 3 billion VND being spent on emergency landslide prevention in the past, Phan Anh Quang, Vice Chairman of the Son Ha District People's Committee, said that the landslide site that was previously repaired was on the same side of the hillside. After the repairs were completed, landslides occurred again nearby.
The project to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters and landslides in the Van Ca Vai residential area commenced on July 15th and was expected to be completed before October 31st, 2024. However, by mid-September, only over 23% of the work had been completed.
According to Mr. Phan Anh Quang, there are several reasons for the delay in the project's construction progress. Firstly, following the provincial People's Committee's policy of resettlement and landslide prevention on Van Ca Vai mountain, the district developed a plan for landslide prevention and selected a resettlement location. However, after numerous meetings with residents to gather their opinions, the people still could not reach a consensus.
Specifically, households at the foot of Van Ca Vai mountain are refusing to relocate to the resettlement area, instead choosing to stay and move on their own during the rainy season, bearing the consequences themselves. The reason is that when they move to the resettlement area, they will only be allocated 100 square meters of land. land/household, while those displaced due to landslides are not compensated for their houses and land.
Next, at the summit of Van Ca Vai mountain, there is still an electricity pole belonging to the 110kV power line of Dat Phuong Son Tra Hydropower Joint Stock Company, located within the landslide remediation radius, but no relocation measures have been taken yet.
Notably, in June 2024, leaders of the Department of Dike Management and Disaster Prevention inspected the landslide site at Van Ca Vai mountain and concluded that the design solution was inadequate, posing a very high risk of re-landslide. The department leaders also requested the relocation of the aforementioned power pole to reinforce the landslide area.
After numerous meetings, the People's Committee of Son Ha district reported to the province and received approval to not carry out resettlement, but only to reinforce the Van Ca Vai mountain to prevent landslides. However, due to the complex terrain and geology of the area, no design unit could be found in the province.
Ultimately, the chosen solution was not to relocate the households at the foot of the mountain, but to excavate deep into the mountain to raise the foundations close to the power pole bases, forming a drainage ditch on the surface of the existing foundations, and sloping the water flow from the foundations down to the reinforced gabions at the base of foundation 1. The surfaces of the foundations were not reinforced with technical solutions to prevent erosion and groundwater drainage.
“The technical plan requires leveling the ground in 9 stages, removing a large volume of weak soil and rock, approximately 40,000 cubic meters, until the underlying layer of gravel and rock is exposed, and implementing technical measures to prevent erosion. At this point, the entire project is behind schedule, only reaching nearly 25% completion, but the reinforcement work against landslides on Van Ca Vai mountain has reached over 80%,” said the Vice Chairman of the Son Ha District People's Committee.
However, despite implementing two landslide prevention projects in Van Ca Vai with a total budget of 17 billion VND to protect the lives of 5 households and 24 people at the foot of the mountain, the issue of ensuring the safety of the people in the future (when the second project is put into use) remains a matter of doubt, with no definitive answer yet.
"Addressing the landslide is currently the optimal solution, but due to the complex terrain and geology, we cannot make any definitive statements yet. This remains a concern for the district," Mr. Quang shared.
Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/thap-thom-duoi-chan-nui-lo.html
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