ADB Joins Conference on River Basins in Central Vietnam

A three-day conference on Vu Gia-Thu Bon river basins took place in Vietnam’s central city of Danang on March 14 with participation of experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and local agencies.
Along the river basins, massive constructions of hydropower plants and uncontrolled mineral exploitation activities have led to more serious flood damages and salt water intrusion as well as disease outbreaks in recent times, experts said.  They also warned that unless proper measures are worked out, the two rivers likely to become giant water bags posing a great threat to lives of tens of thousands of local residents, especially during storm seasons. Natural disasters have caused an estimated loss of nearly VND30 trillion ($1.44 billion) to central Vietnam since 2009, statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed. Vietnam is among the world’s top ten countries hardest hit by calamities, including storms, floods, flash floods, landslides and draughts; and death-toll from natural calamities may hit 800 per year, experts said. (Nguoi Lao Dong – Laborer Mar 15 p4)