Over the past month, dozens of households in Chu Village, Phung Minh Commune, have watched in fear as the riverbank continues to collapse. The landslides threaten both farmland and a key inter-field road.
Local farmer Ha Dinh Manh said the river had already claimed 1,400 square metres of his 1,600-square-metre sugarcane field.
“At this rate, the remaining land will be gone soon,” he said.
Manh added that erosion had plagued the area for years, but conditions had worsened significantly in the past month.
“At least two major landslides have opened up along the Am River in Chu Village. The pits run deep and cut close to the fields, pulling in trees and swallowing swathes of farmland,” he said.
Le Thi Tan, Deputy Chairwoman of the Phung Minh Commune People’s Committee, said the erosion now stretches nearly a kilometre long and over 50 metres wide, with only 15 metres left before it reaches the inter-field road.
She warned that the river’s sharp bends and fast current in several areas could cause further collapse.
“So far, the erosion has destroyed more than 7 hectares of crops belonging to 17 households, causing nearly VND 1 billion (approximately USD 39,000) in losses,” she said.
Local officials have attributed the erosion to shifts in the river’s flow, which have carved into the banks and stripped away farmland.
In response, the commune has installed warning signs and told farmers to avoid working in high-risk areas. It has also reported the situation to higher authorities, calling for urgent support to stabilise the land and protect livelihoods.