VietNamNet Bridge - The first week of October 2012 becomes the unforgettable period of many people in Ho Chi Minh City, because of… flooding. Thousands of vehicles struggled on submerged roads.

After many years of fighting floods, along with dozens of projects worth hundreds of millions of US dollars, many roads in HCM City are still severely flooded whenever there are heavy rains, especially in the first two days in October.

As reported by the HCM City Flood Control Center, in the morning and on the afternoon of October 1, there were two downpours with rainfall of 60.6 mm and 76mm coinciding with the time of high tide of up to 1.5 m, leading to serious flooding.

At that time, dozens of major roads in many districts became river, such as: Kinh Duong Vuong, An Duong Vuong, Kha Van Can, Binh Quoi, Hoa Binh, Au Co, Dong Den, Bau Cat, etc. Flood made traffic situation very miserable for HCM City people.

Pham Van Hai, 34, a resident of District 12, told VietNamNet: "I was only less than 200m from my office on Au Lac Street but I took me nearly one hour in the rain to get out of traffic congestion to arrive at the office."

From about 7am to 10am on October 1, thousands of people suffered from flooding and heavy rains on the road. They spent three hours to pass the journey of less than 2 km.

Because so many roads were seriously flooded, the Flood Control Center against flooding could mobilize mobile pumping machines and specialized equipment to clear floods on An Duong Vuong road in the morning--since this route has no drainage system and Thao Dien street on the afternoon.

On the morning of October 2, along Kinh Duong Vuong and An Duong Vuong roads, many flooded sites of more than half a meter deep were formed. Motor drivers had to stop to walk with their vehicles. Some people fell and were wet from head to toe. However, they could not return home to change clothes because of traffic jams.

In fact, the anti-flooding task in Ho Chi Minh City is at standstill when the plan on flood control, which was worked out 2 years ago has not been fulfilled.

Mr. Do Tan Long, Head of the Water Drainage Department of the HCM City Flood Control Center, said that from the beginning of 2012, the Center has implemented solutions to reduce and clear submerged sites by installing 615 tide prevention valves, building temporary dikes, 28 pumping stations (with 42 pumping machines with capacity from 1,000m3/hour to 64,000m3/hour) and specialized equipment to handle severe flooding points.

So far, the Center has dredged 1,261 km of sewers, maintaining and dredging 57 canals (6.5 km), repairing 1,885 drainage pits, expanding 2,106 water mouths and replacing 2,246 pit covers.

The regularly flooded roads of Go Dua, Quang Trung, Do Xuan Hop, Nguyen Huu Canh, Le Duc Tho, the National Highway 1A (Thu Duc district), and Le Van Sy has been solved thanks to 28 flood control projects.

However, the two biggest problems that make the city continue to be severely submerged (even dozens of flood controls  projects worth hundreds of millions of US dollars were carried out in may years) - the encroachment of canals and construction projects causing flooding – have not been solved yet.

In District 9, Ben Chua canal is encroached by people to build houses. However, these illegal houses are still there though the Flood Control Center has repeatedly asked the People's Committee of District 9 to tear them down.

In Binh Thanh District, the banks of Van Thanh canal are also illegally used by local people. The situation has not been handled by the local authorities.

Similarly, a lot of canals in Thu Duc district, such as Dia, Mon, Ong Dau, Viet Hung Rubber, Cau Trang canals are also been encroached or become dumping grounds.

This situation also occurs with numerous canals in District 12 and Binh Chanh District. As a result, whenever it rains, plus with high tide, water floods over the surrounding roads.

Saigon is flooded by anti-flood works




As of early 2012, HCM City had 57 placed that are submerged because of construction projects. 50/57 placed has been handled, but 25 new sites have appeared. Currently, there are 32 flood points of this type.

According to the Flood Control Center, since early 2012, the roads around the canals of Tan Hoa - Lo Gom, including Hoa Binh, Bau Cat, Dong Den, etc. have been frequently flooded whenever there is rain, especially Hoa Binh Road.

In this route, flooding lasts from 10-15 hours, affecting people in the three districts of District 11, Tan Binh and Tan Phu.

The cause of this condition is determined by the construction of a component project to renew Tan Hoa-Lo Gom canals and the roads along the canals.

The project developer fill up the canals, replaced them with underground pipes sizing from 2m x 2.5 x 3.0 to 4 x 2.5 x 3m. Meanwhile, Tan Hoa - Lo Gom canals are the drainage routes for about 1,446 hectares.

The Flood Control Center hosted a meeting with representatives of the investors, the construction company and relevant agencies to discuss plans to increase the drainage capacity for Tan Hoa - Lo Gom canals. However, the situation has not been improved.

The similar situation has occurred at the Go Dua overpass in Thu Duc District, where is always flooded when there are heavy rains.

The reason has been identified: Cau Mieu canal was filled to replace by underground pipes but the construction company used culverts with diameter of only 600mm, which is not big enough.

According to the Flood Control Center, the implementation of water drainage projects have blocked the current drainage systems, causing flooding in the project area and the surrounding area.

"Since the rainy season of 2010, the HCM City Party Committee issued two instructions on this issue. The Flood Control Center, in collaboration with specialized inspectors, have regularly inspected and urged related units to handle flood caused by anti-flood project the result is modest," says the latest report of the Flood Control Center.

In the early days of horrific flooding in October, VietNamNet reporters were present on Kinh Duong Vuong road to witness people struggling with flood for hours.

According to our research, the developer of the Urban Upgrading Project has blocked Nguyen Van Luong sewer, causing flooding in Kinh Duong Vuong road.

A similar situation also occurs with the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Sanitation Project, causing flooding in Tran Quang Khai and Tran Quoc Toan roads.

In addition to the city's major projects, recently, there is the "participation" of the construction of a building on  Nguyen Huu Tho Street, District 7.

Minh Dung