Quang Trung Industry JSC on June 19 proposed the HCMC government should install super-large water pumps on Phan Huy Ich Street in Go Vap District and on Nguyen Van Qua Street in District 12, as well as at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, to get flooding under control.

A Vietnam Airlines aircraft is parked at Tan Son Nhat International Airport which is easily inundated by heavy rain 

The two streets and part of the airport are often submerged following heavy rain. Massive water pumps, similar to that in use on Nguyen Huu Canh Street in Binh Thanh District, could help deal with inundation in these flood-prone areas, said Nguyen Tang Cuong, general director of Quang Trung Industry JSC.

Rainwater flowing from Dong Hung Thuan Ward and Truong Chinh Street often inundates 1.6 kilometers of Nguyen Van Qua Street, with the affected area covering 335 hectares.

As for Phan Huy Ich Street, a section of 1.5 kilometers is often submerged after heavy rain, affecting an 850-hectare area, including 446 hectares of Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Cuong noted that if super-large water pumps are installed on Nguyen Van Qua and Phan Huy Ich streets, flooding in part of the airport could be handled, as rainwater would be drained into Hy Vong Canal.

A representative of the airport operator said flooding in the west of the airport is no longer as severe as before because Hy Vong Canal has been dredged. The south section of the airport, where rainwater at the airport will flow to A41 Canal, has suffered the most from flooding.

The two-kilometer canal, which runs from the airport via Hau Giang Street to Cong Hoa Street, is getting narrower due to illegal land reclamation, causing severe flooding at the airport, especially when it rains heavily.

The representative proposed removing projects encroaching on A41 Canal and installing drains along the canal. The HCMC government has assigned Tan Binh District to complete these tasks, but the district government has yet to do so.

Recent downpours have inundated the aircraft parking area of the airport, so the airport operator has to use two pumping machines with a capacity of 750,000 cubic meters per hour each to pump water out of the area.

SGT