Land erosion is becoming severe in the Mekong Delta, affecting the lives of thousands of people.

InAn Giang, one of the most flooded provinces in the area and the hardesthit by erosion, several cases of erosion have occurred recently.

Forinstance, the erosion of a river bank in Tan Chau town's Long Chau wardcaused 8,000sq.m of soil along a 100m stretch to fall into the TienRiver September 22.

In Long Xuyen town's My Hoa Hung commune,250sq.m of land plunged into the Hau River on September 16, causing 17fishing cages to sink.

An Giang has around 50 erosion hot spotswith a total length of 150km along the Tien and the Hau - twotributaries of the Mekong - and other rivers.

Some 6,000 households in An Giang now live in vulnerable areas and await relocation to safer areas.

Theprovince has taken many measures to prevent erosion, including buildingerosion-proof sites and raising awareness of erosion sites.

DoVu Hung, Deputy Director of the An Giang Department of Agriculture andRural Development, said his department encouraged people living inerosion-prone areas to move to safe areas.

This year's floodingcaused by the rising level of the Mekong is expected to peak in thefirst 10 days of October and the waters will rise to an estimated thirdwarning level, according to the National Centre for Hydro-MeteorologicalForecasting.

This means that though the flooding has been moderate this year, the erosion has been unusually severe.

Illegalsand mining and construction of houses and other structures alongrivers are the major causes of the erosion, experts said.

InDong Thap province neighbouring An Giang, 25 cases of erosion have beenreported in Hong Ngu, Thanh Binh, and Chau Thanh districts and Cao Lanhcity so far this year, causing a loss of 26,106sq.m of soil andaffecting nearly 2,000 households who need to be relocated.

Erosion has occurred along a total length of 39km in 34 communes, wards, and towns in Dong Thap, threatening 4,000 families.

Erosionof earthen sea dykes and land along coasts in coastal provinces likeTra Vinh, Kieng Giang, and Ca Mau has also been increasing.

LeThanh Trieu, Chairman of the U Minh district People's Committee in CaMau, said the Khanh Hoi estuary eroded 50 metres of land every year,threatening the safety of 500 families living along it.

Khanh Hoi commune authorities have had to use wooden stakes and sandbags to check the erosion.

Theyhave also urged provincial authorities to build embankments to preventthe erosion at an estimated cost of more than 100 billion VND (4.76million USD).

In Tra Vinh province, the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development (MARD) has approved construction of concrete dykessince 2008 at a cost of more than 530 billion VND (25.2 million USD).

Butto build a comprehensive dyke system to protect residents, Tra Vinhneeds at least 1.5 trillion VND (71.4 million USD), according to itsPeople's Committee.

Cao Van Nam, head of the Kien GiangIrrigation Sub-department, said the destruction of coastal protectiveforests is the major reason for the erosion of sea dykes.

"Erosionwill worsen if there is no measure to recover and develop coastalprotection forests outside dykes," he warned. Kien Giang has been tryingto replant protective forests in erosion-prone areas, but achievedlimited results due to reasons like unsuitable cultivation models andthe adverse impacts of aquatic farming and fishing.

MARD hascalled on research institutes to evaluate the phenomenon of coastalerosion and find solutions to prevent it, create silt deposits incoastal areas, and plant trees to check the sea.

Provincial committees should give priority to preventing erosion in vulnerable coastal areas, it said.-VNA