Heavy rains cause flooding on Thanh Loan Road in District 8, HCM City on May 20. (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) - Flood prevention worksin Ho Chi Minh City between 2016 and 2020 are estimated to cost more than 96.3trillion VND (4.24 billion USD), according to the city’s Steering Centre of theUrban Flood Control Programme.
At a meeting held to review the programme’simplementation last week, Nguyen Hoang Anh Dung, the centre’s deputy director,said the amount included 21.9 trillion VND (964.7 million USD) from the privatesector.
The flood prevention projects includeconstruction of three irrigation reservoirs, upgrades to the storm drain systemand Xuyen Tam canal, and construction of seven wastewater treatment plants.
Two and a half years after starting theprogramme, the centre has achieved the goal of preventing flooding in thecity’s 550sq.km central area and five neighbouring areas, according to Dung.
This year seven more main streets and 445 alleyswill become flooding-free.
River tides too flood many streets, but fourhave now put this problem behind them.
Many of the projects in the programme had beendelayed due to shortage of funds, and the People’s Committee should seekfinancing from the private sector and official development assistance, Dungsaid.
It should instruct relevant agencies to takesevere action against encroachment of drains and illegal filling of canals, hesaid, adding that canals and channels should be regularly dredged.
Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of the municipalPeople’s Committee, called on relevant agencies and districts to coordinatewith the centre for flood prevention.
Urban management and co-ordination were“limited”, leading to low effectiveness of flood-prevention efforts, he said.
The centre should earmark more spaces for waterstorage and do further research into water drainage, he said.
There were many reasons for flooding, includingtides, heavy rains, failure to dredge canals and channels, and others, he said.
So many different measures were required andapplied simultaneously to resolve the problem, he added.-VNA
VNA
