Experts: Deforestation worsening natural-disaster risks
Unsustainable livelihoods, including the chopping down of protective forests for agricultural production and building houses near streams and rivers, have increased risks of natural disasters, officials admitted at a recent meeting.
Floods in August, 2017 washed away people’s houses and assets in Muong La District, Northern highland province of Son La |
This should be piloted in several major areas to gain experience, and then widely across the country, he said.
According to data from the Centre Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, natural disasters killed 386 people and caused damage of VND60 trillion (US$2.6 billion) so far this year. The corresponding figures for the whole of 2016 were 264 and VND40 trillion (US$1.75 billion).
The centre said Doksuri and Damrey were the strongest typhoons in three decades to batter the central region this year.
In October, unusual heavy rains in the north had forced the Hoa Binh Reservoir to open eight floodgates at the same time for the first time in a decade.
Besides, landslides on river banks in the Mekong Delta have also worsened this year.