Dong Thap Province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region has reported 19 landslides along rivers and canals since the start of this year, with seven happening along a canal in only two months.

The seven landslides occurred along Can Lo Canal in Nhi My Commune under Cao Lanh District between late March and early June, according to statistics from the Dong Thap Irrigation Sub-department.

Other communes such as Phuong Tra, Tan Hoi Trung, An Binh, Tan Nghia, and My Tho in Cao Lanh District; Tan Phu Dong and Tan Quy Tay in Sa Dec City; and Hoa Tan, Phu Long, and An Khanh in Chau Thanh District have experienced several riverside and canal-side landslides.

The 19 landslides stretched a total 553 meters, destroying three houses and affecting 11 households. Such landslides caused a loss of over VND1.3 billion (US$55,410).

Among them was a landslide happening along Nha Man - Tu Tai Canal in Tan Nhuan Dong Commune in Chau Thanh District on Friday. The canal-side landslide sprawled about 30 meters long, threatening Provincial Road 854, which connects the district in Dong Thap Province with Binh Tan District in neighboring Vinh Long Province.

The landslide sank an agricultural material warehouse and a motorcycle repair shop into the canal, leaving a loss of an estimated VND500 million ($21,290).

Huynh Phuc Nhan, chairman of the People’s Committee of Tan Nhuan Dong Commune, said that the Nha Man - Tu Tai canal, one of the largest in the commune, had seen multiple landslides over the past few years.

The commune has discovered many landslide-prone sites along the canal, thereby putting up warning signs there.

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