Water reservoirs weighing up to a ton each
and built on the top of houses and apartment buildings for daily use have
exposed great hazards for residents in Vietnam in recent years.
The
ton-heavy ‘water bombs’ that fell down as a result of rusty stands or other
malfunctions have reportedly claimed many lives in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Despite
admitting its hazards, the head of a city planning department of a district in
Ho Chi Minh City, confessed that there is now no legal document to manage or
rule the construction and installment of these hazardous water tanks.
“A
private house owner doesn’t need to present a technical drawing for building a
water tank,” he said. “But it requires having technical papers for building it
on a multi-level private building or any apartment building.”
A brief
survey by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper journalists showed that the installment of
water tanks on the top of houses and buildings is mostly unprompted and fails
to conform to any regulation.
In
2012, in northern Vinh Phuc Province, Nguyen Thi Mam, a 79-year-old woman, was
crushed to death when a 1,000 liter water tank fell down from the roof of her
bathroom.
In
2011, in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Van Len, 21, was killed on site when a 500
liter water tank fell and pinned him down when he was working for Truong Vui
Garment Company located on Thoai Ngoc Hau Street in Tan Phu District. His
colleague Le Van Hau, 26, was also seriously injured in the accident.
Terrace space for water tanks
The
public space on the terrace of the 316 Phu Hoa Tenement in Ward 8 of Ho Chi
Minh City’s Tan Binh District has 20 water tanks, each containing 500 to 1,500
liters of water.
Though
the apartment has a public reservoir on the roof, each family installs their
own water tanks as a reserve measure.
Dang
Van Tai, a resident of the apartment, said, “It will certainly pose a problem
in the long run.”
The
extra weight of dozens of private water tanks on the public terrace may cause
it to become damaged or to even collapse.
“I am
worried about this because this tenement was built before 1975,” said a
resident.
Year
after year, apartments under the terrace have suffered water absorption from
above.
At the
Thanh Da Apartments in Binh Thanh District, hundreds of families have been
living under similar ‘water bombs.’
Many
owners of private houses ignore their own safety by installing water tanks on
unfit stands.
A man
living on Do Tan Phong Street in Phu Nhuan District admitted that, “It’s easy
to install a water tank, and no problems are likely to occur. It’s the
installation of electricity that is difficult.”
Many
other private houses install water tanks on their balcony that juts out above
the entrance gates. The tanks are simply bound to the wall by metallic ropes to
prevent them from falling.
A
contractor in Thu Duc District added that some house owners save money by
welding scrap iron bars instead of using stainless steel to make the stands.
Architect
Nguyen Xuan Thang in Ho Chi Minh City said each square meter of the terrace can
sustain a total weight of 700kg, so it is acceptable, in technical terms, to
place water tanks on terraces.
But it
is a risk to install a water tank on the balcony or on unqualified stands, he
added. Steel used to support a water tank must be stainless and 4-5mm thick.
A
leader of a construction department in Hanoi admitted this is an important
issue, directly relating to the safety of people, but authorities have no legal
document on the standards of installing a tank.
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