Landslide in Ashibetsu City!

 by Kazu

Do you thin that the right bank of the river is the normal ?
No, it is the layer of the earth slid into the river.
Now the water is flowing on a paddy field and took of the soil in the field.

Yes, the left bank is not the original bank of the river. Two back-hoe went into the water flow of the river and began to take off the earth from the hillside of the mountain.  

Can you recognize that the pine trees are leaning ? The trees and the layer of the earth is from the hillside. That's very a "land slide", I think. The layer of the earth stopped the water flow of the river and the flow detoured around the layer and trees.  

The mountain is owned by a private company or a individual. As the water flow of the river is controlled by our prefectural government, we have to take off the trees and soil in the river but the hillside of the mountain should be fixed by the owner. It seems to take several several hundreds million Japanese Yen to fix the hillside completely and take off the fear of more landslide. How can the owner figure out such amount of money ?    

Even if the owner sold the mountain with trees, it would not possible to cover the cost. Who will compensate the loss of the paddy field?
we have to struggle with this matter in cooperation with the stakeholders and the municipality.

Two back-hoes with brave operators went into the water flow and began to take off the earth. We are not sure how long it will take and what is the best way for the owner of the mountain as well as the owner of the paddy field.

Our new supervisor Mr.Yasunori Yamane visited the area just after the landslide because he happened to make greetings with the mayors and the key persons in this area today. Heavy snow fall and heavy rain in this spring brought landslide in Ashibetsu City this year like in Utashinai City last year. Is it the result of global warming and greenhouse effect on this planet?