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Nearly 8,000 households face water shortage after dam collapses in Nghệ An

NGHỆ AN — Nearly  八,000 households in the northern province of Nghệ An’s Đô Lương Town are facing a shortage of water after a dam collapsed on Saturday.

Võ Đăng Dũng, head of Đô Lương Water Supply Station, said it has installed stations to pump water from Đào Canal for affected people.

“The water for the station was affected by the collapse of the Bara Đô Lương dam. The water level in the Đào Canal was as low as  二m, the lowest level recorded so far, causing serious water shortages for  七, 八00 households in seven co妹妹unes and Đô Lương Town,” he told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper.

On Saturday morning, overflow spillway  一0 and  一 一 at an old dam of Bara Đô Lương were broken, causing a lack of water flowing into the main canal, resulting in a  五0- 七0 per cent drop in water for the North Nghệ An irrigation system. It also affected the water for  二0,000ha of rice in Yên Thành, Quỳnh Lưu and Diễn Châu districts.

After the incident, provincial leaders arrived at the scene, directing Hợp Hiệp Ltd – the construction unit – to arrange facilities and manpower to solve the problem by June  一 一. The unit was also asked to complete upgrade work in two years instead of the three years as scheduled.

Phạm Đình Hạnh, director of the Hòa Hiệp Ltd, said the company has used cranes to drop rocks and concrete blocks in front of overflow spillway  一0 and  一 一 in order to raise the water level, ensuring the water supply to the main canal.

Bara Đô Lương dam was built by France from  一 九 三0 to  一 九 三 七, serving irrigation in the Nghệ An delta areas. The dam has  一 二 overflow spillways, each is  二 三m wide and has a  二 一m wide sand outlet. After more than  八0 years of use, the dam has become seriously degraded.

Since  二0 一 八, Nghe An province has invested in building a new weir, replacing the old one with capital of more than VNĐ 三 五0 billion (US$ 一 五 million).

Once completed, the project will ensure stable irrigation for more than  二 八,000ha of agricultural land, creating a source of water for industry and daily life for four districts of Đô Lương, Yên Thành, Diễn Châu, Quỳnh Lưu and Hoàng Mai town.

The cause of the dam collapse is being investigated. — VNS