>> Dam bursts, 10 locals washed away
Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung said water absorption could be the cause of the Ia Krel 2 hydropower dam break which happened in Gia Lai Province on June 12.
Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung
In an interview with reporters on June 13, Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said that water absorption could happen at parts linking the dam wall and the concrete drain installed inside the dam. Once the absorption was left unchecked, it would create holes, resulting in the dam break.
The minister noted that not only the investor and the design, consulting, supervising and construction units but also construction management agencies will have to take responsibilities for the case, explaining that these agencies are in charge of checking and supervising the implementation process of the project.
To tighten control over the construction work quality, the government has recently issued Decree 15, in which, management agencies in the construction sector are requested to appraise the project’s technical design before it is carried out, instead of just the check after the project is completed.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai it was lucky the break didn’t happen at night, if not, it would become a disaster. The situation would be more serious during the flooding season.
The Construction Ministry's State Authority for Construction Quality Inspection, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Gia Lai People’s Committee would find out the real cause of the dam break.
Investor absent
As soon as the dam broke on on June 12, local authorities undertook rescue work, but the investors, the Bao Long-Gia Lai Hydro-electricity-Industry Company, was absent from the site. Local authorities tried to contact the investor, but they failed.
Minister Trinh Dung Dung said, to date, the hydropower plan investor has not yet submitted the project’s legal document as well as procedures related to the plant’s quality management to authorities.
According to initial statistics, 69 houses were flooded, one bridge was swept away and around 200 ha of crops were damaged. Fortunately there has been no reported loss of human life.
The hydropower lake is designed to hold 8-10 million cubic metres of water, however, the dam broke when the lake reaches around 4-5 million cubic metres.
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