Danang Party Secretary Nguyen Xuan Anh and the city authorities discussed solutions for the erosion problem at My Khe Beach on March 9.
Since the Tet Holiday, people have noticed worsening erosion along My Khe Beach, from Son Tra to Ngu Hanh Son districts.
My Khe Beach severely eroded
The sea has eaten deep into the coast and created whirlpools and pulled out tree roots. Service providers on the beach have had their possessions swept away as the beach is narrowed. This is the first time Danang has experienced such severe erosion. At some places, the sea has encroached 20 metres inland.
Nguyen Van Thang from Phuong My Ward, Son Tra District, said they couldn't provide any services near the sea. The erosion this year was particularly bad compared to previous years.
"Our snack and drink kiosk was located towards the sea but then the beach eroded and destroyed our kiosk. I bought new furniture to open another one. 20 umbrellas in a row there have all collapsed," he said.
Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Le Quang Nam, said natural erosion had occurred every year. However this year, because of the erratic change of the currents and the seabed that the erosion worsened.
"This is natural erosion, not caused by constructions. There is no construction around this area," Nam said.
Mai Ma, director of Danang Wastewater and Drainage Company said there are 50 sewers that discharge into the environment. When it overflows during rain, about 5,000 cubic metres of sand has been swept away, ruining the scenery.
Ma proposed to build an underground sewer system to discharge under the sea and bypass the beach. He also suggested to build three new discharge gates and buy 10 more pumps to prevent the amount of overflow water to the beach. The plan will need about VND25bn (USD1m).
Party Secretary of Danang Nguyen Xuan Anh urged the city people's committee to carry out research and deal with the issue, saying that Danang would lose its tourism appeal if they couldn't protect the beach. Anh said VND25bn is a reasonable price and this is an urgent matter.
"This needs to be reported to the steering committee but personally, I approve of dealing with this quickly," he said.