Farmers worry about water shortages and lightning because of... highways

Dragon fruit gardeners along the Phan Thiet – Vinh Hao – Dau Giay highway, through Ham Kiem commune, Ham Thuan Nam district, are worried about many problems due to highway construction, including water for production and lightning during the rainy season.

Farmers worry about watering dragon fruit.

The North-South Expressway through Binh Thuan in general, and the section through Phan Thiet - Vinh Hao in particular, brings about clear economic and social benefits for Binh Thuan - the place known as the "kingdom" of dragon fruit. However, it also leaves a concern for a part of farmers who have cultivated land on both sides of the expressway related to residential roads, electricity and water for production, canals in the fields... This has been reflected in the past time and has been noted by the functional sectors, people are reassured, but still insecure. Among them, farmers in Dan Binh village, Ham Kiem commune, Ham Thuan Nam district are afraid of thunder and lightning when it rains, prolonged sunshine will not produce water for dragon fruit.

A farmer holds an exposed electric pole ground wire.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Vinh, representing many households cultivating dozens of hectares of dragon fruit in the Ngoc Han dragon fruit farm in Dan Binh village, indignantly shared: I represent many households asking Binh Thuan Newspaper to inform the relevant authorities. When there was a policy to build an expressway, we were very happy because the expressway created momentum for the country in general and Binh Thuan in particular to develop. Therefore, we unanimously handed over land to build the road, but when the expressway was deployed and now completed and put into operation, the lives of the people were turned upside down, with many worries. Especially in the dry season or on long hot days, the water source for dragon fruit gardens was difficult because the expressway passed through and broke many internal canals; the lighting poles for dragon fruit production were not rebuilt, and the power source was returned to the original state.

Along with that is the worry of lightning strikes and landslides in the dragon fruit garden during the rainy season. Mr. Huynh Van Tha said that his house has a pond to store water for irrigating dragon fruit, but when building the highway, the construction unit of the residential road dug a drainage ditch to fill up his pond but did not dredge it. In addition, this ditch, instead of being far away from the electric pole on the household's land, was built close to the electric pole without being concreted, causing landslides and the risk of the electric pole falling. In particular, during the process of digging the ditch, the construction unit did not re-ground the electric pole - an indispensable accompanying device in the lightning protection system of lighting projects, but left it exposed on the ground... "If something happens related to life, who will be responsible...", Mr. Vinh was upset. Accordingly, the grounding system is an important part when constructing lightning protection projects. If the lightning protection equipment is not well grounded, lightning strikes can cause serious consequences. On the contrary, if the lamp post is well grounded, the lightning protection system will maximize its efficiency.

Faced with that concern, they signed a collective petition and sent it to the relevant authorities, including the Commune People's Committee, which conducted a field survey of the area and found that not only the above area but also other areas were similarly affected by the highway. Mr. Nguyen Van Tam - Chairman of the Ham Kiem Commune People's Committee said: When we received the petition from the people, we went to check and found that the households' complaints were well-founded. The Commune People's Committee has proposed that the District People's Committee coordinate with relevant authorities to consider and survey the reconstruction of the canal along the residential road to facilitate irrigation, so that people can live and produce with peace of mind.

Ham Thuan Nam District People's Committee said that the district is checking and assessing the impact of the highway on farmers' production as well as people's lives in the area. The issues that people reflect under the district's authority will be resolved soon, and if not under the district's authority, recommendations will be made to higher authorities.

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