Sand mining in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta sinks homes and livelihood

Vietnam’s “rice bowl” delta region is predicted to run out of sand in just over a decade. — AFP

Can Tho (Vietnam): One summer morning, Le Thi Hong Mai’s home collapsed into a river in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, where shoreline erosion caused by sand mining and hydropower dams threatens hundreds of thousands of people.

Sand – needed to produce concrete – is the world’s second-most exploited natural resource after water, and its use has tripled in the last two decades, according to the United Nations environment programme.