Ca Mau steps up natural disaster prevention, control efforts

A portion of the western sea dyke in Khanh Binh Tay Commune in Ca Mau Province’s Tran Van Thoi District. (Photo: VNA/VN)

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Ca Mau province is taking measures to mitigate the impacts of increasing erosion and other natural disasters.

The country’s southernmost province - the hardest by climate change - lost some 4,900ha of coastal forests in the last 10 years to high tides and disasters.

The loss of forests has worsened the erosion.

On the eastern coast, where there is no dyke, the erosion situation is severe.

Without a dyke, the coast could lose 200ha of land a year, according to local authorities.

In some areas, erosion has reached 80 – 100 metres, affecting infrastructure along the coast and the Ho Chi Minh Road.

Erosion and loss of coastal forests is expected to worsen until year end because of the north-east monsoon that will cause seawater to rise.

Over recent years the province has mobilised funding from various sources to build more than 40km of embankments on the western coast, preventing erosion and recovering mangrove forests.

But 16km of the coast still face a serious erosion threat.

This year erosion occurred thrice along a total length of 1.9km of coast and 149 times along rivers involving 3.03km.

Natural disasters damaged 7,500ha of crops, mostly rice, 500ha of aquaculture and 846 houses, inundating 572 and flattening 104 others. 

Authorities said they were seeking to speed up construction of resettlement projects to relocate households living in disaster–prone areas.

The province is also taking measures to help people in coastal areas adapt to climate change by ensuring sustainable livelihoods by teaching them effective fishing and aquaculture models./.