Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Amid the peak of the rainyseason, dyke violations in Hanoi are set to rear their ugly head.

Violations have existed for many years but have not beenresolved by competent agencies, harming dyke safety, the flood irrigationcorridor for the capital.

According to Nhan Dan (The People)newspaper, most of the dyke violations involved the construction of housesand workshops, illegal sand exploitation, storage of building materials andoverloaded vehicles travelling on dykes.

Other violations included dumping construction rubbish,removing gravel and digging irrigation channels.

The violations occurred frequently on the Hong (Red)River section running through Thuong Tin district.

About seven building material storage points licensed bylocal agencies were found in Thong Nhat commune with dozens of high sand pilesalong the river’s dyke, the report said.

Along the river’s dyke in Lien Mac ward of Bac Tu Liem district,seven companies occupy unused land to store and transport constructionmaterials, with sand piled up behind trees.

These points are located near the river, about 100m from thedyke, causing damage and subsidence to the dyke, with overloaded trucksoperating all day and night.

Nguyen Huu Dac, a resident in Thuong Tin district’s Hong Van commune,said these vehicles had not only threatened the safety of the dyke but alsopolluted the environment and affected the lives of thousands of households.

Households in Ninh So commune have also blamed owners ofbuilding material storage sites for encroachment on agricultural land and dykeprotection corridors to build workshops, damaging the dyke in the rainy season.

Many violations have been tackled by local authorities butoffenders still ignore the regulations and sanctions and have continuedviolating for years.

Widespread violations are reducing the dykes’ effectivenessin the storm season, yet little has been done to resolve the issue.

Do Duc Thinh, head of Dyke Management and Flood PreventionDivision, said the capital city’s dyke system was in good shape to controlfloods. However, with the unusual occurrence of natural disasters, it wasdifficult to anticipate incidents.

Serious violations were being reported, such as the presenceof houses and other constructions on the dykes, but they had not resulted in aclearance of the dykes, he said.

Statistics showed there were 15 violations in 2015 and 47 in2016.

In 2017, heavy rain washed away a section of the dyke on BuiRiver in Chuong My district, causing serious damage to local property.

More than 1,000 households of the two communes were isolatedby floods and hundreds of hectares of crops, aquatic products and cattle weredestroyed.

According to the city’s Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, some landslides occurred on embankments in Ba Vi and Phuc Thodistricts since the beginning of this year, threatening the dyke system, livesand property.

Chu Phu My, the department’s director, said thousands of dykeviolations had occurred.

In April alone, 22 violations were reported in Hanoi.

My said many people claimed they did not know their actionshad violated the dyke protection corridor.

It seemed that people were not informed about dyke laws, hesaid.

Vice Chairman of the Ninh So commune People’s Committee DoCao Manh said in addition to the limited knowledge of the people, another issuewas that the Dyke Law and legal documents had revealed inadequacies after morethan 10 years of implementation.

There were still unspecific regulations on violations,causing difficulties to agencies, he said.

Le Xuan Tien, inspector of the Hanoi Department of Transport,said a lack of strict punishment on the violations made the situationcomplicated.

The department would continue to work with local authoritiesto review and add more traffic signs and vehicle weight restriction signs alongthe dyke, he said.

The inspection should also be strengthened interms of compliance with the regulations of the transport companies, especiallythose with multiple offences to improve the situation, said Tien.VNS/VNA