The
Vietnamese environment minister told the press Thursday that the ministry will
consider making hydropower companies pay for damages caused by their discharge
of water from dams.
Recently, hydropower dams have been criticized
for worsening flooding in the central region and for damaging residents'
property.
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment
Nguyen Minh Quang said the ministry would consider adding an article on the
responsibility of individuals and companies in the discharge of flood waters in
the amended Water Resources Law.
He admitted that the rampant construction of
hydropower projects in the past few years has made managing reservoirs and the
discharge of water difficult.
“The government should halt hydropower
projects to revise what is good and what is bad in them,” newswire VnExpress
quoted Quang as saying.
He said the Department of Water Resources
Management will revise and adjust the operational process of reservoirs
nationwide in future.
As heavy rains fell in the central region
between November 4 and 9, the discharge of water from dams caused the water
level in local rivers to rise very high.
Residents say it will not be easy to recover
from flood damage, as the hydropower companies discharge more water and because
floods occur every year in this region.
In Thua Thien-Hue Province, two reservoirs
owned by the Binh Dien and Huong Dien hydropower plants, the biggest in the
province, opened on November 5 and have since caused floods that submerged more
than 4,000 houses.
As soon as the waters were discharged, water
levels on Huong and Bo Rivers in the province rose to alarming levels.
Thousands of houses in the lowlands were submerged under water 0.5 to 1 meters.
In Hue City, all the roads were submerged 0.5
meter, causing traffic gridlocks. The province also reported one death on
November 5. Nguyen Huu Khang, a 14-year-old middle school student, was swept
away by floods in a rural village.
On November 6, the Song Tranh II Hydropower
Plant in Quang Nam Province released water from its swelling reservoirs,
causing floods and landslides in Nam Tra My and Bac Tra My Districts.
Most roads in the two districts were
submerged, and mountainous communes were totally isolated.
The same day, the Ba Ha River Hydropower Joint
Stock Co. in Phu Yen Province released water from the Ba Ha River and Hinh
River reservoirs.
Local residents complained that the company
only gave a two-hour notice before the discharge. Because people living in
low-lying areas did not have time to prepare for the discharge, they suffered
severe property damage.
Le Can, a 46-year-old farmer, said people
cannot move all their property to safe places in two hours.
Meanwhile, Dang Van Tuan, general director of
the Ba Ha River Hydropower Joint Stock Co., quoted a government regulation as
saying hydropower companies are allowed to discharge flood waters from
reservoirs on a two-hour notice.
But the regulations also say that if local
authorities think that two hours' notice is not enough, they can file a report
with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Natural Resources
and Environment, and the ministries can ask the government to adjust the
regulation.
Le Van Truc, deputy chairman of the Phu Yen
People’s Committee, said they reported the issue to the ministries and were
waiting for replies.
On Thursday, Minister Quang said the request
is under consideration.
By Anh Vu, Thanh Nien News
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