Even though Ho Chi Minh City has made efforts to deal with flooding
affecting the city centre, the city’s outskirts are experiencing increasing
incidents, an official has said.
According to Ho Long Phi, Director of HCM City Flood Control
Programme's Management Board, the city has incurred regular floods for years
due to tidal waters, prolonged rains, overcharged flood discharges and
unfavourable terrain.
The programme's steering centre said 60% of the city's area lies on
low-lying land in the lower reaches of the Sai Gon-Dong Nai river system.
HCM City has recorded around 100 flooding hot spots experiencing 60
centimetres water. The most susceptible areas include Districts 2, 4, 6, 7 and
8.
The city’s rapid urbanisation has outstripped its drainage system, and
it has failed to deal with increased floods.
"Due to the reliance on the flood control programme, many
residential areas and industrial parks quickly developed on low-lying land
since 1995, worsening floods in the area. While the city could deal with
flooding in certain places, other locations have started to be plagued by the
incidents," Long noted.
Uncontrollable underground water exploitation has also added to the
situation, the centre said.
In order to improve the situation, municipal authorities have mapped
out two master plans. The first focuses on upgrading the city’s drainage system
to help deal with rain and wastewater in the inner city, while the second aims
to build an irrigation system to help cope with tides that are increasingly
affecting the city.
Despite increased efforts, several experts said the situation had yet
to improve due to the lack of co-ordinated solutions to the problem.
Long assessed, “There has been contradictory and overlapping policies
pursued in during the implementation of several projects, resulting in low
efficiency."
Hoang Van Thang, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,
suggested that the city should select the most effective and suitable solutions
to its current circumstance, instead of applying different methods at the same
time, a situation that had squandered investment.
"A competent agency should act as a coordinator for the city’s
flood control projects in order to heighten efficiency," Nguyen Ngoc Anh,
Director of Southern Irrigation Science Institute recommended.
Tung Nguyen | dtinews.vn
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