Mekong Delta faces increasing erosion along rivers, canals
The beginning of the rainy season has increased land erosion along rivers and canals in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta.
The delta, the country’s largest rice, fruit and seafood producer, has reported a number of cases since May.
In past years, landslides would normally occur only during the flooding season in August and November.
On Tuesday, a 31-metre wide, 5m deep stretch of land slid into the Trà Nóc River in Cần Thơ City’s Bình Thủy District, dragging along the back portion of a rice mill and a house.
Cần Thơ has suffered 28 landslides this year, 13 more than in the same period last year, according to its Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, Search and Rescue.
They involved 1,410 metres of land and caused 11 houses and parts of 65 others to fall into the water.
The scale of erosion and losses are also larger this year, the committee said.
