Hanoi (VNA) - Some 80 percent of construction landfillsalong the capital city’s riverbanks are operating without licences, accordingto the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

A survey done by the Hanoi Irrigation, Storm and Flood Preventiondivision shows that 183 of 220 landfills in the city are operating illegally, a Tien Phong (Vanguard) report quoted the department as saying. 

This means that some 1,400ha of 1,500ha of construction landfillsare being exploited illegally.

Among the 37 landfills that are operating with licences,violations of license provisions were seen at 13 landfills, the newspaperreported.

It said overloaded trucks could be seen traveling along dykes totransport construction waste to and from some 80 landfills.

Large amounts of construction waste have been gathered andtransported within the flood drainage routes of the Da, Duong and Hong (Red) riversin six districts – Gia Lam (33 construction landfills), Tu Liem (28), Dong Anh(23) and Ba Va (18), as well as Hoang Mai (17) and Son Tay (16).

Director of the irrigation division, Do Duc Thinh, said thisillegal gathering and transporting of construction waste was damaging thedykes, embankments and riverbanks, creating favourable conditions forlandslides and environmental pollution.

Some construction landfills were throwing construction waste andinstalling steel poles in the rivers, obstructing the river flow and flooddrainage routes, he said.

In addition, a number of landfill owners were violating the Law onMineral Resource Management and Exploitation in gathering black sand of unclearorigins, Thinh added.

Tran Van Nhan, a resident living near a construction landfill inThuong Tin district’s Van Diem commune, said that he and other residents werefamiliar with overloading vehicles transporting building waste in and out ofthe landfill for years.

Nhan said local residents have reported this to the districtauthority many times, but the situation has not improved.

The same situation prevails in Phu Xuyen district.

Nguyen Quang An, deputy head of the district’s EconomicsSub-department, said that the district’s authorized agencies have strengthenedinspections along the 16km -long dyke, but it was not effective as truckdrivers usually informed each other and shifted to the Hoa Mac-Dong Van routeinstead of the dyke road.

Meanwhile, as many as 18 locations in the capital city are at riskof inundation in Ba Vi, Phuc Tho, Dan Phuong, Thuong Tin, Phu Xuyen, Long Bienand Soc Son districts since the city’s drainage system is overloaded, the HanoiSewerage and Drainage Limited Company has warned.

The city has chalked out plans to actively prevent flooding atthese locations.

Lieutenant Colonel Tran Xuan Thanh of the Ha Noi Police Departmentsaid that they would launch campaigns focused on deterring violations on dykesystems, such as illegal sand exploitation and the plying of overloadingtrucks.

He said that it was necessary to install traffic signals torestrict the overloading of trucks and protect the dyke routes.-VNA