During a tour to Ba Bo Canal yesterday Chairman of People’s Committee in Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Thanh Phong asked the relevant agencies must make more efforts to reduce pollution in Ba Bo Canal.

 Ba Bo Canal is still polluted 

The canal which flows from the southern province of Binh Duong to Ho Chi Minh City remains heavily polluted after 7 years of cleaning.

The surface of the canal and reeking of an awful smell are the visible consequences of water contamination in the canal because waste discharges from daily and industrial activities from Binh Duong Province.

The canal section from Binh Duong Province through HCMC’s Thu Duc district is still black and has the fetor of polluted water.

The HCMC Steering Center for Flood Prevention reported that the city government approved a biological reservoir system to treat canal water in 2007 to reduce pollution in the canal, the system is nearly completed and it is scheduled to operate this month.

An embankment system around the canal was also built to slow down discharges into the canal, the report said.

As per a pledge between the city and Binh Duong Province signed before building the reservoir in 2007, Binh Duong administration must treat industrial discharge before flowing into the canal meanwhile HCMC will build the biological reservoir to treat the canal water. However, Binh Duong authorities have not managed the treatment of industrial discharge well.

Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong asked the city Department of Environment and Natural Resources to take wastewater from the sewage No.2 for testing to classify the pollution level. Test results will be used as evidence so that the city will petition Binh Duong Province to strengthen supervision and tighten control over discharges from industrial parks.

SGGP