Flood experts have called for the Ho Chi Minh City government to adoptdrastic measures to control flooding here in the city; otherwise, thecity will not be able to solve this chronic problem in future, theSaigon Times Daily reported.
The HCM City Department of Transportinvited 20 experts in irrigation, hydrometeorology, natural resourcesand environment to a seminar in the city last week to discuss possiblemeasures for controlling worsening floods.
Le Hoang Minh, deputydirector of the department, said the HCM City government needed expertsand scientists to propose how to ease flooding caused by heavy rain andhigh tides in the city.
Minh pointed out the actual situationthat rainfalls of 85 millimetres or higher alone overloaded the drainagesystem developed in the city in accordance with a zoning plan approvedby the Prime Minister in Decision 752/2001/QD-TTg. Tide levels increaseyear after year but when 13 tide control sluices are completed remainsunknown.
“Therefore, flood control is a hard nut to crack in thecurrent context,” the Daily quoted Minh as saying. “We request expertsand scientists suggest measures and send them to the department andrelevant agencies.”
There have been 36 downpours with averagerainfall of over 85 millimetres in the city since 2006. Flood tides haverisen since 2008, reaching an all-time high of 1.7 metres on October10.
The funding of the irrigation project aimed to preventflooding in HCM City has amounted to 57.8 trillion VND from 11 trillionVND. Five years after the project was approved by the Prime Minister,the city has completed only a small workload of the main componentsincluding building 149 kilometres of embankment along the banks of theSaigon River and nine big sluices to control flooding triggered by heavyrain and tides in the city.
A report presented by Do Tan Long,head of the water drainage department at the HCM City Steering Centrefor Flood Control, showed that the city needs to have 6,000 kilometresof sewer but less than 3,100 kilometres have been built. The city hasbeen able to finalized construction of some 31 kilometres of embankmentand only one sluice out of the 13 sluices.
Irrigation expert LeThanh Cong, director of consulting firm D&C, was cited as sayingthat the city is executing major flood control projects without in-depthstudies and will not address the flooding problem in the next 6-15years.
Cong called for relevant agencies to invest heavily inthorough studies on the rainfall and flood tides as well as correctshortcomings in zoning plans on flood control in the city.-VNA
The HCM City Department of Transportinvited 20 experts in irrigation, hydrometeorology, natural resourcesand environment to a seminar in the city last week to discuss possiblemeasures for controlling worsening floods.
Le Hoang Minh, deputydirector of the department, said the HCM City government needed expertsand scientists to propose how to ease flooding caused by heavy rain andhigh tides in the city.
Minh pointed out the actual situationthat rainfalls of 85 millimetres or higher alone overloaded the drainagesystem developed in the city in accordance with a zoning plan approvedby the Prime Minister in Decision 752/2001/QD-TTg. Tide levels increaseyear after year but when 13 tide control sluices are completed remainsunknown.
“Therefore, flood control is a hard nut to crack in thecurrent context,” the Daily quoted Minh as saying. “We request expertsand scientists suggest measures and send them to the department andrelevant agencies.”
There have been 36 downpours with averagerainfall of over 85 millimetres in the city since 2006. Flood tides haverisen since 2008, reaching an all-time high of 1.7 metres on October10.
The funding of the irrigation project aimed to preventflooding in HCM City has amounted to 57.8 trillion VND from 11 trillionVND. Five years after the project was approved by the Prime Minister,the city has completed only a small workload of the main componentsincluding building 149 kilometres of embankment along the banks of theSaigon River and nine big sluices to control flooding triggered by heavyrain and tides in the city.
A report presented by Do Tan Long,head of the water drainage department at the HCM City Steering Centrefor Flood Control, showed that the city needs to have 6,000 kilometresof sewer but less than 3,100 kilometres have been built. The city hasbeen able to finalized construction of some 31 kilometres of embankmentand only one sluice out of the 13 sluices.
Irrigation expert LeThanh Cong, director of consulting firm D&C, was cited as sayingthat the city is executing major flood control projects without in-depthstudies and will not address the flooding problem in the next 6-15years.
Cong called for relevant agencies to invest heavily inthorough studies on the rainfall and flood tides as well as correctshortcomings in zoning plans on flood control in the city.-VNA
