700 degraded dams to be fixed: official
The Water Resources Directorate (WRD) plans to repair some 700 reservoirs at high risk of bursting by 2030, an official has said.
Dam safety was one of the key issues discussed at a conference on the national irrigation strategy until 2030 with vision towards 2050 held in Hanoi on November 23. The conference was jointly organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the World Bank.
WRD’s Department of Clean Water and Rural Environment Deputy Director Le Hong Nam said that authorities were planning to improve reservoir safety, in particular 700 seriously-degraded ones.
According to a report by the WRD, there were a total of 1,200 degraded dams nationwide, most of which were built three to four decades ago, currently at imminent risk of bursting especially during heavy rains or storms.
A project funded by the World Bank, Vietnam’s Dam Rehabilitation and Safety Improvement Project, was already working on some 450 damaged reservoirs which were facing safety risks.
Nam said that the 700 dams in question are not those being fixed by the World Bank project, implying that Vietnam for the first time might seriously tackle the dam safety problem.
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| A reservoir of Huoi Quang Hydro-power Plant in northern mountainous province of Son La. |
According to a report by the WRD, there were a total of 1,200 degraded dams nationwide, most of which were built three to four decades ago, currently at imminent risk of bursting especially during heavy rains or storms.
A project funded by the World Bank, Vietnam’s Dam Rehabilitation and Safety Improvement Project, was already working on some 450 damaged reservoirs which were facing safety risks.
Nam said that the 700 dams in question are not those being fixed by the World Bank project, implying that Vietnam for the first time might seriously tackle the dam safety problem.
