Canh Tang Reservoir Project: 'Blocking the stream does not block livelihoods'

On August 23, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development delegation coordinated with the People's Committee of Hoa Binh province to check the progress of the Canh Tang reservoir project in Lac Son district.

According to the People's Committee of Lac Son district, up to now, in the construction of resettlement sites and flood avoidance roads, construction has been completed and put into use in the resettlement site of Da Moi hamlet in Dong Xe area, there are 64 resettled households). The number of households that have moved to 7 resettlement sites is 424/492 (68 households have not yet moved to the resettlement area, of which 60 households are in Binh Hem commune and 8 households in Van Nghia).

To construct two roads to avoid flooding (total length of nearly 17 km, phase I of excavation and embankment construction, sewer is more than 14 km long), the contractor has dug and filled the road foundation, construction of sewers, and concrete pouring of mechanical surface, the estimated value of the realized volume is about 94%.

The construction of the suction tank within the lake bed has been completed, ensuring safety in the rainy season. Other items, such as the storage tank, operation manager, and water supply pipeline leading to the beginning of the resettlement site, have also been completed.

Regarding cleaning and disinfecting the lake bed, the contractor is constructing the lakebed area in Yen Phu, Van Nghia, and Binh Alle communes. The volume is estimated at 75%, slower than the schedule. The main reason for the delay is that some of the clearing areas are in the garden area, where the living people have not been relocated and resettled, so the clearing work has not been carried out.

Regarding compensation and site clearance, by the end of July 2023, Lac Son district has disbursed and completed 100% of the assigned capital plan according to the project approval Decision No. April 26, 2018, by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for more than 1,800 turns of households and individuals. The total disbursement of the site clearance part is nearly VND 785 billion. The area recovered is more than 670 hectares of land, and more than 1,200 graves have been moved.

Mr. Bui Thanh Tung, Vice Chairman of Lac Son District People's Committee, said that shortly, the district People's Committee will work with Van Nghia and Binh All communes to commit to bringing the remaining 68 households to move back to the village before October 30. new resettlement area, facilitating the implementation of flow-blocking work.

For the two roads to avoid flooding (the Yen Phu - Binh Hem route is constructed from km6+380 - km7+380, and the Van Nghia - Lac Sy route is constructed from km8+300 - km9+587), the whole route construction of the prestressed concrete bridge is expected to be completed before December 31. Notably, the section of km8+300 - km9+587 longer than 1.2 km in Yen Thuy district is being cleared, so it can extend the time but not affect the progress of blocking the stream.

Regarding disbursement, on July 26, 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued notice No. 4990/BNN-KH announcing the detailed adjustment of the investment capital plan in 2022 (extended to 2023) and the investment capital plan in April 2023 with a total allocated capital of VND 200 billion. Therefore, the disbursement plan until December 31 is VND 200 billion (construction + clearing the lake bed is about VND 70 billion, and the site clearance is about VND 130 billion). In addition, the remaining payment of the 2nd phase of the rice land development protection and development fund is more than VND 17 billion, and the application will be completed before October 30, 2023.

Regarding replacement afforestation for the main dam and lake bed, the People's Committee of Hoa Binh province has issued Decision No. 110/QD-UBND dated January 18, 2018, approving the alternative afforestation plan with an area of more than 25ha, planting site in Yen Phu commune, Van Nghia. However, when reviewing, there was no longer a land fund for planting, so the plan was changed from self-planting to the form of paying money to the forest protection and development fund (Document No.1140/UBND-KTN dated 18/7/ 2023 of Hoa Binh Provincial People's Committee).

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep emphasized that Canh Tang Reservoir is one of the great national projects. According to the plan, Phase 1 has been completed, and Phase 2 has been started. However, the project's implementation was slower than scheduled due to many reasons, of which the main reason was the problem of converting the committed provincial funding into the central support budget.

The Deputy Minister also said the project's time is only two years. If the units do not drastically implement the contents of phase 2 right now, the project will hardly succeed.

For line blocking work, the blocking time is two years behind schedule. Therefore, the units must review the contents prepared for the flow-blocking work deployed in the coming time. This focuses on essential contents such as completing the resettlement area so people can live safely and bringing the remaining 68 households to the resettlement area.

The Deputy Minister also noted that completing the forest conversion procedure is another essential content to block the flow successfully. If the forest cannot be converted, it is impossible to restore the forest land. At this time, blocking the stream cannot be done.

However, according to the report, Lac Son district has no land fund for afforestation, so it must be planted in other districts. One problem is that if other districts in the province cannot implement it, the Hoa Binh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development should study the plan to get the highest norm of replacement afforestation in the province for approval for Lac Son pays to the provincial afforestation fund. Thereby facilitating the conversion of forest land without affecting the project's progress.

In Phase 2, the project management board must develop a plan to complete the construction of canals by June 30, 2026, so that the works can be put into operation.