VietNamNet Bridge – Deputy chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, Tran Vinh Tuyen, has ordered district authorities to clear all encroachment of canals and drains by the end of this year.

Many streets in HCM City are flooded during rains.- VNA/VNS Photo

Speaking at a meeting held on Monday to discuss the city’s flooding problem, he instructed the Steering Centre of the Urban Flood Control Programme to collaborate with the 24 districts to resolve the problem.

He ordered the Departments of Finance and of Planning and Investment to allocate funds on a priority basis for dredging rivers and canals.     

The rate of dredging should be increased from the current 2 per cent to at least 20 per cent, he said.

This would help mitigate flooding and facilitate waterway transportation, he said.

There have been rains on 22 occasions this year, and four of them caused flooding on one to 32 streets, according to the centre.

The 32 include Ung Van Khiem, Dinh Bo Linh, Cay Tram, Phan Huy Ich, Nguyen Xi, Huynh Tan Phat and An Duong Vuong.

The biggest downpour, on May 19, brought rainfall of 119.3mm and flooded the 32 streets.

Nguyen Hoang Anh Dung, deputy director of the centre, said most of the flooded streets have small and degraded drains.

Besides, throwing litter down drains and manholes remains common, he said.

“Littering blocks the drains. The centre has ordered the clearing of rubbish from the mouths of drains.”       

To mitigate flooding during rains, the centre is operating three pumping stations to pump rainwater out. The Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe wastewater pumping station, for instance, can pump 76,800 cubic metres of rainwater per hour, helping reduce flooding in the Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe basin.

Flood prevention works are tardy, especially land acquisition, according to the centre.

It urged district authorities to speed up the process of obtaining lands for flood prevention works like the Bau Trau Canal project in District 6 and Tan Phu District to mitigate flooding on An Duong Vuong and Phan Anh streets and the Sai Gon River left bank project in District 2 and Thu Duc to prevent flooding on Quoc Huong, Thao Dien and Nguyen Van Huong streets.   

Tuyen instructed the centre to file detailed reports about flooding sites and the reasons for the flooding so that the city could adopt long-term measures to resolve the problem.

Based on the reports, the city would consult experts and solicit investment in flood prevention programmes, he added.

Source: VNS