A bird’s eye view of the Saigon River section. At least 101 projects adjacent to the river will be inspected – PHOTO: THANH NIEN

Le Hoa Binh, director of the HCMC Department of Construction, said that the inspections will last until January 3, 2020, and the results will be reported to the municipal government.

Some projects were located 100 meters away from the river bank when they were built, but now, they are very close to the bank due to gradual erosion. Others were approved for construction before 2004 when regulations on river and canal corridors had yet to be issued, according to a representative of the HCMC Department of Planning and Architecture.

Accordingly, the inspection teams will review the legal records of 88 approved projects adjacent to the river and 33 housing projects with river protection corridors and will then propose penalties for projects that have violated regulations on river and canal corridors.

The city has issued many decisions on the management of the Saigon River corridors, asking that riverside construction sites be 30-50 meters away from the river bank.

However, projects constructed before 2004 are only 20-50 meters from the river bank, said architect Pham Van Phuoc, deputy head of the HCMC Urban Planning Institute.

The Saigon River sections running through Districts 2, 12 and Thu Duc saw the greatest encroachment. Also, erosion has been recorded in some sections of the river, with Thanh Da Peninsula being eroded regularly.

Further, several alleys near the river were blocked and turned into internal paths for projects, resorts and villas, provoking anger among local residents, reported Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper. SGT