The flood predicaments in Ho Chi Minh City cannot be controlled due to reckless construction work.
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| Temporary shelter of a road construction project caused flood after a very small rain |
The Ho Chi Minh City Anti-Flood Programme Management Centre released a report showing that 4 out of 7 of its water drainage sub-projects at Hang Bang basin had been completed and the remaining projects are nearly finished.
Thanks to these projects, the Cay Go traffic roundabout no longer floods. In the past, it was the most flooded place in Ho Chi Minh City.
However, as one officer from the Anti-Flood Centre complained, “We worked very hard for one year to control the drainage in 10 flood problem areas but these projects have created hundreds of new ones.”
Flooding problems at Cho Lon area and on major roads including Pham Dinh Ho, Minh Phung, Chu Van An, Le Van Sung and Cao Van Lau have all been addressed.
However, after heavy rains in the past two months, many roads in the city were covered with water meaning the flood control improvements may not have been as successful as reported.
Due to a heavy rain fall on August 28, 2010, almost the entire city, from the outskirts to the centre, was flooded.
Heavy rains on September 12 caused flooding on 20 roads in the city such as Le Van Sy, Chau Van Liem, Au Co, Ba Hom, Tan Hoa Dong and Tran Dai Nghia.
According to the Drainage System Management Division under the Ho Chi Minh City Anti-Flood Programme Management Centre, the reason for flooding in the city was the reckless execution of contractors who implemented projects installing new drainage systems. As a result, existing drainage systems have been seriously impacted.
Data provided by the Ho Chi Minh City Anti-Flood Centre revealed that from early this year to present, 269 drainage sewers were discovered to have been damaged, impacting the operation effectiveness of those sewers and causing floods on many roads during heavy rains. This number is ten times higher than the number of flooded areas which had been controlled in past years.
Construction projects which have damaged the existing drainage systems are mainly projects building new drainage systems. One of them is the city’s environmental clean-up project at Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe basin and the urban renovation project.
The major violations of these projects are that water containing sand and soil was dumped into manholes. This has made sumps congested. Additionally, existing drainage sewers were broken or their discharging gates were blocked.
The centre has made many reports and requested the People’s Committee of the city to direct the contractors and investors to resolve the situation.
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has already given out its direction many times. The city’s Department of Transport has also ordered the investors to deal with this issue. Furthermore, inspectors of the city’s Department of Transport have strengthened their inspection and punishments.
Nevertheless, flood problems are still abundant. Recently, inspectors of the city’s Department of Transport requested that six units conducting work in the city suspend their operations because they have repeatedly violated regulations on road construction. However, this proposed punishment has not yet been approved by the Department of Transport.
