Households in Kien Tho commune (Ngoc Lac) built a fence encroaching on the main canal corridor of the Cua Dat irrigation system.

Violation due to no construction corridor boundary markers

According to research in Kien Tho commune (Ngoc Lac), the locality has about 3.4km of the main canal of the Cua Dat irrigation system passing through the area. Since 2004, the project has completed compensation and site clearance for affected households, but to date, the boundary markers of the main canal protection corridor no longer exist. Meanwhile, the land on both sides of the main canal system passing through Kien Tho commune is mainly agricultural land and surplus garden land of local people. Through the production process, households have encroached and to protect that land, households have arbitrarily planted stakes, built fences, housing projects... within the project protection corridor. Some households have even received compensation for site clearance but have not yet relocated their houses, trees, and crops to return the land to the management units. Mr. Truong Khac Nghia in Tho Lien village, Kien Tho commune, said: "Because the boundary of the protection corridor of the main canal of the Cua Dat irrigation system could not be determined, my family encroached and built a fence 60m long, 8m wide with an area of ​​240m2 within the protection corridor of the project."

Through inspection, the People's Committee of Kien Tho commune discovered 9 cases of violations of the protection corridor of the main canal of the Cua Dat irrigation system. According to the reporter's investigation, not only in Kien Tho commune (Ngoc Lac), similar violations also occurred in other localities, such as Luong Son commune (Thuong Xuan). According to Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Luong Son commune Luong Xuan Thiem, in the area, there are 14 households encroaching on the corridor of the main canal, Doc Cay dam and Ban Trac dam of the Cua Dat irrigation system to plant acacia and other crops. The reason given by the violating households was that they saw that the land on both sides of the main canal was left unused, so they cleared it to plant acacia without any management unit reminding them. Because the acacia trees were still young and not ready for harvest, some households had not yet cut down to clear the land in the protection corridor of the main canal.

Quickly handle and prevent new violations

The main canal of the Cua Dat irrigation system is 16.276 km long, with a designed flow rate of 36.4 m3/s through Thuong Xuan and Ngoc Lac districts, providing stable irrigation water for 86,862 hectares of cultivated land (of which, South of Chu River is 54,031 hectares and North of Chu River - South of Ma River is 32,831 hectares). After completion and putting into operation, in 2019, the Provincial People's Committee handed over the Cua Dat irrigation headworks and main canal to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) for management. After receiving the project, the Ministry assigned the Irrigation Investment and Construction Management Board 3 to perform the task of managing and exploiting the Cua Dat headworks and main canal to provide irrigation products and services for production and people's lives.

Households in Kien Tho commune (Ngoc Lac) built a fence next to the main canal of the Cua Dat irrigation system.

According to Mr. Hoang Ngoc Canh, head of the planning and technical team of Cua Dat reservoir project, Irrigation Investment and Construction Management Board 3, since taking over the management, the unit has coordinated with the communes to resolve many cases of violations of the construction corridor, especially along the main canal of Cua Dat. However, currently, along the main canal of the Cua Dat irrigation system, there are still 23 cases of encroachment on the construction protection corridor. Of which, 14 cases of violations are in Luong Son commune (Thuong Xuan) and 9 cases in Kien Tho commune (Ngoc Lac). Most of these violations have existed from 2012 to 2018. In addition, in 2021, violations occurred at Km 15+023/T on the left side of the main canal, where households in Kien Tho commune encroached on the corridor to build temporary houses and cover them with corrugated iron roofs.

Regarding the above situation, Vice Chairman of Kien Tho Commune People's Committee Bui Van Hai said: To completely handle cases of encroachment on the main canal protection corridor, the Irrigation Investment and Construction Management Board 3 will inspect, promptly verify and re-establish the boundary markers of the construction protection corridor. On that basis, the locality will work with households to mobilize them to dismantle constructions, trees... to return the encroached land area. Along with that, the main canal management unit will strengthen coordination with the locality to inspect, monitor and review activities in the corridor and protection area. Thereby, promptly detect, correct and handle violations arising from encroachment on the main canal protection corridor.

To ensure security and safety for the project, the management and operation unit of the main canal of the Cua Dat irrigation system and the districts of Thuong Xuan and Ngoc Lac must promptly resolve violations of the project's protection corridor, in order to promote investment efficiency.

Article and photos: Hai Dang

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/xam-chiem-hanh-lang-bao-ve-kenh-chinh-he-thong-thuy-loi-cua-dat-247625.htm