Dam burst disrupts water supply for 7,800 families in north-central Vietnam
Monday, June 08, 2020, 19:24 GMT+7
More than 7,800 households in Nghe An Province, located in north-central Vietnam, are having their water supply cut off as a local dam, which was being upgraded, burst on Saturday.
Originally built in the 1930s, the Bara Do Luong dam serves to provide irrigation for more than 28,800 hectares of farmland, and water for industrial and household activities in a total of five outlying districts and towns in the province.
Since October 2018, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has embarked on a VND316 billion (US$13.5 million) project to restore and upgrade the dam.
The project is funded by loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Eighty percent of the construction work had been completed when the dam broke on Saturday evening.
Vo Dang Dung, head of the Do Luong water supply station, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday that his unit has installed a temporary pump to hold back water from a local canal, called Dao, to ensure water supply for the locals.
The scene of the collapse of the Bara Do Luong dam in the north-central province of Nghe An. Video: Doan Hoan / Tuoi Tre
The collapse of the dam has caused an impact on the local water supply station.
“The water level of the Dao River, where the [water] supply station of our plant is installed, has fallen by around two meters, the lowest ever,” said Dung.
He added the collapse has led to a shortage of raw water for the plant to process into clean water for more than 7,800 households in Do Luong Town and seven communes.
At around 9:00 pm on Saturday, two compartments of the dam along the Lam River collapsed completely.
The incident has caused a lack of raw water for a major canal, which in turn leads to a 50-70 percent decrease in water supplies for the irrigation systems in the northern part of Nghe An.
Another two compartments are at risk of collapse as well, given the emergence of many cracks and empty concrete spaces.
Therefore, the province’s deputy chairman Hoang Nghia Hieu on Sunday ordered the dam constructor, Hoa Hiep Co. Ltd., to mobilize all workers and equipment to work around the clock to fix the burst.
It will take around four to five days for the constructor to raise the desired level of water.
Late last month, a hydroelectric dam in the northern province of Phu Tho burst, forcing 16 households to evacuate from their homes for safety.
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