Heavy rains add to concerns about riverbank erosion

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - Over the past years, due to heavy rains, floods and changing water flows, many areas of alluvial land along the Chu River in Xuan Hoa Commune have suffered serious erosion. The erosion continues to expand, eating deep into the mainland and approaching people's houses. Every rainy and stormy season, when the Chu River floods, local people are worried about riverbank erosion, and the area of ​​alluvial land and crops continue to be washed away.

The Chu River bank in Hai Mau village, Xuan Hoa commune suffered serious landslides.

In Xuan Hoa commune, there is 7.3km of Chu River flowing through. From 2019 to now, due to heavy rain and floods, the Chu River has risen, the flow has changed and swirled deep into the coastal area of ​​Hai Mau and Hai Thanh villages, belonging to K10+700 to K10+800. The landslide phenomenon has caused part of the riverbank land area and many agricultural crops of people in Hai Mau and Hai Thanh villages to be swept away by the water. More notably, due to the impact of the flood that occurred at the end of July 2025, the riverbank landslide has become more serious. According to our observations, the landslide has continued to expand in both length and depth into the mainland, only a few dozen meters from people's houses. At present, the length of the landslide is about 1,200m and many locations of the coastal land have been pulled down by the water, creating very dangerous vertical cliffs.

Mr. Le Van Vinh's family in Hai Mau village grows 4 sao of corn for animal feed. The riverbank erosion has swept away more than 1 sao of his family's corn. Similarly, Mr. Do Ba Tri's family in Hai Thanh village also lost nearly 4 sao of corn due to riverbank erosion. Mr. Vinh said that in the past, the vast fields extended all the way to the middle of the Chu River. People were not worried about losing their farmland, although there were small landslides on the riverbank. However, in the past 3 years, riverbank erosion has occurred continuously and seriously. The cause is that the Chu River changed its flow and rushed straight towards the fields of Hai Mau and Hai Thanh villages. Because the ground was weak, wherever the river rushed, the land eroded. There were times when the landslide was so strong that hundreds of cubic meters of land collapsed into the river. People in Hai Mau and Hai Thanh villages hope that authorities at all levels, departments and branches in the province will soon have a plan to handle the landslide, especially building solid embankments to preserve cultivated land and ensure safety for households living near the fields.

Currently, our province is entering the peak of the rainy season, if there is heavy rain and floods from the upstream of the Chu River, it will cause landslides to eat deep into residential areas, directly threatening the houses and agricultural land of 53 households in the two villages of Hai Mau and Hai Thanh. Faced with the above situation, Xuan Hoa commune has mobilized forces and means to level and temporarily reinforce landslides that have eaten deep into the fields. Along with that, ropes are stretched and warnings are posted in dangerous areas so that people know how to avoid them during production. However, this is only a temporary solution, in the long term, it is necessary to build solid embankments along the landslide arc to protect the fields and production land of the people. Because the entire area of ​​the fields along the river of the two villages of Hai Mau and Hai Thanh has weak soil, if it continues to be affected by the flow of the Chu River, the risk of further landslides is very high.

According to information from Xuan Hoa commune, the project of embankment to protect the residential areas of Hai Mau and Hai Thanh villages on the right bank of Chu river, section K9+500 to K11+000, has been approved by the Provincial People's Committee. In the coming time, the commune will continue to coordinate with provincial departments and branches to complete the procedures to start the project in the dry season of 2025. The early implementation of the project is extremely necessary and urgent, to ensure the safety of people's lives and property. Therefore, the locality requests the Provincial People's Committee, relevant departments and branches to support the completion of legal procedures so that the embankment project to prevent landslides can be implemented soon.

Article and photos: Tran Thanh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/mua-lu-them-noi-lo-sat-lo-bo-song-259919.htm