{"id":20093729,"date":"2022-07-05T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=93729"},"modified":"2022-07-13T15:06:39","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T09:36:39","slug":"in-vietnam-mekong-delta-sand-mining-means-lost-homes-and-fortunes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/justice\/in-vietnam-mekong-delta-sand-mining-means-lost-homes-and-fortunes\/","title":{"rendered":"In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, sand mining means lost homes and fortunes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> In light of increasingly volatile seasons, the unquantified effects from hydropower, and continued sand mining, mainland Southeast Asia finds itself combating ever more mercurial sandbanks. For the highly populated Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, homes being washed away has become a regular facet<\/a> of the wet season. But the effects of overdevelopment on the Mekong are felt across the Mekong basin. In Cambodia, the recent consequences have been stark: in May, Vannak Si and Bun Thoeun Srey Leak, both 12, died when a bank gave way<\/a> in Kandal province, on the border with Vietnam. As the land beneath river-dwellers\u2019 feet becomes ever more unstable<\/a>, the sand mining and concrete industry defy solutions<\/a>, as mainland Southeast Asia continues with breakneck development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a riverbank subsided and gave way four years ago, Tran Van Bi\u2019s house collapsed into a river in Vietnam\u2019s Mekong Delta. Everything his family had accumulated over 32 years was gone in an instant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt that time, when I heard the sound of screaming, I ran back, only to see the roof of my house sinking into a fast-flowing stream,\u201d said Bi, 60, whose old house was next to Vam Nao River in My Hoi Dong commune, An Giang province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI ran to find my wife and children and then like a lost soul, I didn\u2019t know what to do.\u201d Fortunately, his family members were safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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