Hydropower plants in the pipeline should be reviewed to avoid adverse impacts on people and the environment, experts said at a conference last Friday.

Power pipelines of A Vuong Hydroelectric Plant, one of six projects that have already begun generating power in the southern province of Quang Nam, have destroyed forests and affected local lives.

The conference gathered representatives from local departments and divisions, including the five districts most affected – Nam Giang, Bac Tra My, Dong Giang, Tay Giang and Dai Loc.

Experts from central Government departments, ministries and the Water Resources University also took part.

Experts said that despite the benefits provided by hydropower plants, they also caused many problems like deforestation, loss of mountain villages, as well as man-made flooding and drought in lower reaches.

Former chairman of Quang Nam People’s Committee Le Tri Tap said that besides swallowing land and forests, hydropower projects intensified flooding.

Decentralisation

Before 2007, the Ministry of Industry (now the Ministry of Industry and Trade) granted licences for hydropower plants. Since then the process has been decentralised to have provincial People’s Committees approve such projects, leading to a surge in environmentally damaging projects throughout the country, including many in Quang Nam.

Quang Nam currently has 110 hydropower projects in mountainous areas in the pipeline, of which 58 have already been approved.

Six projects – A Vuong, Song Tranh, Dak Mi, Khe Dien, Song Kon and Tra Linh – that have already begun generating power destroyed 6,000ha of natural forests in the province during the construction stage and affected the lives of thousands of local residents.

Huynh Tan Sam, secretary of the Quang Nam’s Bac Tra My District People’s Committee, said the Song Tranh II project alone covered 2,500ha and affected 1,200 families.

Tap said he could not imagine a single province having between 50 and 60 hydropower plants.

Nguyen Duc Hai, secretary of Quang Nam Party Committee, said that hydropower development in the province aimed to reduce the shortage of electricity facing the country and promote industrialisation in the province’s mountainous areas.

However, Hai admitted that many problems had arisen in the process of addressing impacts of these projects, like resettlement of local residents. This was because there was no plan to ensure cultivable land, no study done on ways to preserve culture and customs of ethnic minorities, and no study on the impacts of losing forest land, he said.

Rethink needed

Representatives of affected districts and the province’s flood and storm prevention and controlling steering committee suggested that the provincial government examine and oversee projects prior to implementation to minimise adverse impacts on people living downstream Vu Gia and Thu Bon rivers.

Secretary of the Dong Giang District Party Committee Pham Bang said that it was necessary to review hydropower project planning because local residents were afraid of potential disasters like abnormal flooding and unsafe reservoirs.

Le Huu Thuan, deputy head of the Water Resources Management Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE), said most of the hydroelectricity projects did not have any assessment done of strategic environmental impacts as required.

He also pointed out many weaknesses in the projects, like the absence of procedures to operate the reservoir in emergency situations or a controlling system for measuring and using water.

Tran Quang Hoai, deputy head of the Flood and Storm Prevention and Dyke Management Department, said that many plants did not pay attention to impacts and had actually reduced the functions of reservoirs to cut costs.

Reviewed projects

Dinh Van Thu, vice chairman of Quang Nam People’s Committee, promised that he would review the planning of hydropower projects and certainly not implement those that greatly affected forests and cultivable land. Those having difficult resettlement issues would also not be proceeded with, he said.

He also said those projects where investors lacked capacity or were sluggish in implementation would be stopped.

The province also asked that investors replant forest and offer solutions to minimise damage to the environment and people’s lives.

He also suggested the central departments and ministries amend procedures on operating reservoirs to increase their volume and prevent flooding, and ensure minimum flows to prevent water pollution.

There was also a need to establish co-ordination mechanisms between reservoirs to ensure water supply during dry seasons and proper control of water flow during the flood season, he said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News