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Anonymous

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Here is why Attapeu situtation got worse after Ketsana
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Many storms are hitting Laos and neighboring countries in the past, but why was the recent ketsana storm hit the south so badly... this article from Vietnam will explain why. And how many dams the battery of South East Asia, that is Laos, plans to build in the immediate future... >10 I have heard. Brace yourself folks for future calamities.

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Deputy minister blames reservoirs for worsening floods*

Thanh Nien, Oct 10 2009

Hydroelectric reservoirs were responsible for worsening flooding in
the lowlands when they released water during typhoon Ketsana, a
ministerial official said in an interview with Tuoi Tre on Friday.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dao Xuan Hoc made
the statement to criticize reservoir managers in the central regions
who released water during floods brought by typhoon Ketsana late last
month.

Experts have said the release of water made the devastating floods
even worse.

All hydroelectric reservoirs should have backup lakes for flood
prevention, Hoc said. But there is no law requiring backups.

“However, it’s a fact that when establishing hydroelectric reservoirs,
companies often aren’t willing to invest more money into the flood
prevention backups.”

Not to mention that they want to store the most amount of water
possible for their power production, he added. During the dry season,
many such lakes lose water, which then can’t be used to make
electricity.

“With the backups, it’s impossible for them to store fully water
before the flood season,” the official said, noting that the Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development has launched an inspection into
the region’s reservoirs to evaluate their ability to control floods.

The ministry, meanwhile, is drafting a proposal that would compel
reservoirs to have compulsory flood prevention backups, according to
Hoc.

“Maybe the state will invest into the backups, depending on the
reservoirs’ capacity.”

Mounting criticism

Several officials Friday blamed A Vuong Joint-stock Company (AVC) in
Quang Nam Province for releasing too much water from its reservoir
during the Ketsana floods, heavily submerging the Vu Gia River’s
floodplains.

Le Minh Anh, chairman of the Quang Nam’s People’s Committee, said they
had to allow the company to release the water, as AVC’s Quang Ngai
reservoir was at risk of breaking.

“But when they started to release water at up to 2,680 cubic meters
per second, the floods in the lowlands peaked higher than in previous
years,” Anh said, adding that the province then asked the plant to
decrease water flow to 500 cubic meters per second.

“This proved that there is something wrong with hydroelectric
reservoirs’ water release management, which needs to be fixed for the
sake of the floodplains.”

According to Anh, other reservoirs at the headwaters of the local Kon
and Vang rivers also released water and worsened flooding during
Ketsana.

On September 29, AVC asked the province government’s permission to
release water from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. the same day at between
2,500-3,000 cubic meters per second, or 14 million cubic meters in
total. But it then released water until 7 a.m. on October 1, local
newspaper Lao Dong (Labor) reported recently.

The paper said a total of 149.3 million cubic meters were released by
the facility, which contributed to floods reaching a ten-year peak,
inundating many towns and districts, the paper said.

AVC Board Chairman Nguyen Van Le on Thursday said A Vuong Reservoir’s
taks, as assigned by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, was never to
lessen floods. He said the facility’s only duty was to guarantee the
operation of A Vuong hydroelectric plant, which provides power to the
national grid.

However, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Huu Hao didn’t agree
with Le’s statement.

“Under approved procedures, A Vuong Hydroelectric Plant mainly
functions to generate power. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t supposed
to contain floods,” Hao said.

He also warned that the plant’s director would be held responsible, if
inspections find that the water release breached any regulations.

On the other hand, Nguyen Thi Thuy Hoa, vice chairwoman of Thua Thien
– Hue Province, said it was the provincial government that ordered
Binh Dien reservoir to release water while the floods were already at
their highest levels.

Binh Dien is facing the same criticism as A Vuong for its failure to
contain floods.

Hoa said the decision to release water was made before water reached
the reservoir’s designated full point, as managers were not entirely
confident the recently-built reservoir could withstand that capacity.

“Design is one thing, but it’s another matter whether the dam’s safety
is guaranteed or not…the most important thing to keep the dam safe,”
she said.

Lashing the central Vietnam on September 29, typhoon Ketsana killed at
least 163 people and caused over VND14 trillion (US$785.85 million) in
property losses, according to the National Storm and Flood Control
Committee.

In the meantime, Parma, the tenth storm to hit the East Sea this year,
is approaching the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands with winds blowing at
62-74 kilometers per hour, the national weather forecast center said
on its website on Saturday.

The storm will be 100 kilometers from the islands by Sunday at latest,
according to the center.



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Anonymous

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It was  the case last year when heavy storm hit Southeast Asia and Chinese dams on the upper portion of the Mekong River released large amount of water at the same time thus resulting in massive flooding in Thailand and Laos.  The City of Vientiane barely escaped a catastrophic flood. 

Anywhere where there is controlled of the natural environment, there is bound to be negative side effect somewhere else.  That is the price that has to be paid but fortunately, it is the poor who are vulnerable and must take the blunt of consequence.

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Anonymous

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Anonymous wrote:

It was  the case last year when heavy storm hit Southeast Asia and Chinese dams on the upper portion of the Mekong River released large amount of water at the same time thus resulting in massive flooding in Thailand and Laos.  The City of Vientiane barely escaped a catastrophic flood. 

Anywhere where there is controlled of the natural environment, there is bound to be negative side effect somewhere else.  That is the price that has to be paid but fortunately, it is the poor who are vulnerable and must take the blunt of consequence.


It was  the case last year when heavy storm hit Southeast Asia and Chinese dams on the upper portion of the Mekong River released large amount of water at the same time thus resulting in massive flooding in Thailand and Laos.  The City of Vientiane barely escaped a catastrophic flood. 

Anywhere, where there is controlled of the natural environment, there is bound to be negative side effect somewhere else.  That is the price that has to be paid but unfortunately, it is the poor who are vulnerable and must take the blunt of consequence.

 



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Anonymous

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Not only the Chinese dams on the upper Mekong. Don't forget the dam on Nam Ngum - the water released also led to flooding in Laos.

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khonthakek


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storms hit laos many time in the past, but named ketsana is only this year,,

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Anonymous

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That is because they just start giving it a name. And the name was drawn from a pool of other names that were submitted. You can say Laos was lucky to have a hurricane with a Laotian name cause so much havoc in Laos. biggrinbiggrin


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niya


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Watches are a beautiful thing. Certainly, they tell us the time - but aren't they so much more than that? replicas watches Through their watches, a person can express so much, and in a way it could be said:replicas watches Show me your watch and I'll tell you who you are.


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