Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Hanoiauthorities are ready to relocate about 14,000 residents facing the threat offlooding in the outlying district of Chuong My, an official said.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee NguyenDuc Chung said on July 30 during an inspection on flood prevention work in thedistrict that the authorities must prepare for the worst-case scenario.

He said that the city authorities wouldprovide 10,000 sand bags and request relevant agencies strengthen theembankment to prevent water from the Bui River flowing in.

Chung also asked the district authoritiesto call on residents residing near Bui River’s Dyke to quickly relocate theirbelongings to higher places.

Regarding concern over clean water, thecity authority has asked a number of enterprises to provide 5,000 big waterbottles for local residents who are in need.

The municipal People’s Committee chairmanalso directed relevant agencies to be on duty around the clock to tackle allpossible incidents, ensuring the safety of the dyke.

According to a report from the People’sCommittee of Chuong My district, in recent days, due to the heavy rain, thewater level at Bui and Tich Rivers has continued to swell. On July 30, thewater level at Bui reached its peak of 7.52m, about 1m higher than the thirdwarning level – an alarming level that caused widespread flooding in downstreamareas; many construction, transportation and irrigation works suffered heavydamage.

Chu Phu My, Director of the HanoiAgriculture and Rural Development department, said the water level at the Bui Riverwas down to 7.42m on July 31.

The department remained to monitor the HuuBui and Huu Tich dykes and embankments belonging to the communes of Quoc Oaiand Thach That districts. If the water continues to rise, the department willsubmit a plan on the water discharge to the municipal People’s Committee sothat the inner city will not be inundated as well as to ensure the safety oflocal people and their property.

After the water recedes, the departmentwill focus on calculating the damage and conducting repair work, My said.

Regarding the communes which wereinundated, he said that steering committee for natural disaster prevention andcontrol would work with relevant agencies to perform relief work, providingnecessary support so that people could restore production and return to normallives.

Dinh Manh Hung, Chairman of the Chuong My districtPeople’s Committee, said nearly 1,300ha of rice, 260ha of vegetables and 555haof aqua-culture were damaged by floods. As many as 3,300 metres of roads and9,400 canals were badly affected. The floods also destroyed 33 bridges andresulted in the death of 339 cattle.

As of July 30 night, two children havedrowned and 2,349 households have been submerged under flood waters. Somevillages like Yen Trinh and Thuan Luong of Hoang Van Thu were isolated.

To cope with the situation, the districtPeople’s Committee has taken drastic measures to ensure the safety of state andlocal residents’ property.

Accordingly, the district’s MilitaryCommand was asked to coordinate with armed forces units in the localities toconduct rescues in case of emergency. Relevant agencies were directed tocollaborate with communes and local authorities in preparing necessaryequipment and forces and closely monitor the water level at rivers and reservoirsto support the evacuation of people in accordance with the set plan.

In response to the calls from localauthorities, hundreds of people have used thousands of sand bags and bamboopoles to reinforce the eroded embankment.

Luu Huu Nhan, a resident from Thanh Binh communewhose home is 100m from Bui Dyke, said that as soon as they were informed ofthe rising water level, hundreds of local residents arrived at the scene tojoin the repair work.

“Never before have people taken an activerole like this year. Over 500 people were mobilised just on July 29 night toprotect the dyke,” Hung said, adding that people were the most important factorin flood control work.-VNS/VNA