VietNamNet Bridge - As more and more canals in HCM City have been filled to make room for residential quarters, waste water drainage has been obstructed. 
A report showed that since 2007 authorities in HCM City have approved 159 projects on filling up rivers and canals in the city. 

According to director of the HCM City Construction Department, Tran Trong Tuan, 111 out of 159 projects have not been implemented. As for the other 48 projects, 91.6 percent of the works have been done.

It is expected that 480,000 square meters of canal area, including 57,000 square meters in Binh Chanh district, will be filled once the 48 projects are fulfilled. To date, the filling of an area of 440,000 square meters has been finished.

Also according to Tuan, the investors of 24/48 projects were requested to build reservoirs to regulate the water flow when filling up canals and rivers. However, a recent inspection tour taken by the department showed that only four water reservoirs have been built and the other four are under the construction.

“This shows the state agencies’ loose management,” an official of the inspection team said. 

“Under the current regulations, the investors implementing large projects with large filling areas will have to build water reservoirs with areas equal to ½ of the filled areas. As for smaller projects, the filled canals must be replaced by culverts,” he explained.

Tuan stressed that when filling up rivers and canals, city dwellers need to think of the measures to ensure the natural drainage, or this will cause serious floods. Therefore, Tuan suggested imposing heavy fines on investors who do not implement the construction items as committed.

However, Ho Long Phi, a renowned anti-flooding expert, said that the requirement on building water reservoirs to implement the function of canals will not be helpful in all cases.

“The functions of water reservoirs and canals are quite different,” he explained. “It is necessary to calculate the hydraulic drainage capacity.”

Phi also has called on to reconsider the canals which the city authorities have allowed to fill.

One should realize that the filling of canals will put a heavy burden on the city’s budget because reservoirs and water drainage systems will have to be built instead. Meanwhile, in many cases, the water reservoirs and systems cannot work as properly as the natural drainage systems.

Under the irrigation system development program which the Prime Minister approved in 2008, HCM City needs to retain 17 percent of total area of natural area for water regulation, estimated at 35,000 hectares. Meanwhile, the current water surface area now in HCM City is less than 10,000 hectares.

PL TPHCM