Tan Son Nhat international airport in HCM City after a downpour in 2016 (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNS/VNA) - TheHo Chi Minh City People’s Council has urged Tan Binh district authorities tospeed up the progress of flood-prevention projects inside Tan Son Nhatinternational airport to prepare for the coming rainy season.
Speaking at a recent meeting with the district’sauthorities, Pham Duc Hai, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Council, saidthe progress of major anti-flooding projects inside the airport had been tooslow and urged authorities to work with agencies to map out detailed plans.
Hai, leader of an inspection team from thePeople’s Council, recently inspected canals and sewers at and near the airport.
Key drainage systems operated by companies atthe airport vary in design and lack connectivity, causing serious flooding inthe airport, especially during rainy season, he said.
Hua Quoc Hung, Vice Chairman of the Tan BinhDistrict People’s Committee, said at least 10 companies have built differentdrainage systems which are not connected.
The companies also did not cooperate withlocal authorities when rehabilitating the drainage systems, he said.
The drainage system inside the airport isincomplete and is not connected to the drainage system outside the airport.
In addition, many local householdsencroaching on land along the drainage canals have worsened the flooding in theairport area.
Worse still, local residents are stillthrowing trash into the canals near the airport, greatly contributing to theflooding, Hung said.
Major flood-prevention projects, includingthe upgrade of Hy Vong, Tan Tru, A41, and Nhat Ban canals, have been delayeddue to tardy site clearance and lack of investment, according to Hung.
Although the city has approved the projects,they have yet to be implemented.
As planned, the project to upgrade the A41canal was supposed to be completed last year, but site clearance took too muchtime.
The project to upgrade Hy Vong canal wasapproved in 2016, but has not been implemented due to a lack of financing. Thecity is still mobilising investment capital.
According to the city’s Steering Centre ofthe Urban Flood Control Programme, the drainage system inside the airport needsto be connected properly with the drainage system outside the airport.
The Ministry of Transport has recentlyapproved a project to renovate the internal facilities of the airport, which isexpected to improve flood prevention efforts.
In addition, under another plan approved lastyear by the Ministry of Transport, priority will be given first to buildinganti-flooding works as part of airport expansion.
Under the plan, which has been submitted bythe ministry to the Prime Minister, work on a reservoir with astate-of-the-art pumping system must begin as soon as possible and be completedby the end of this year.
Serious flooding in the landing areas andrunways has caused chronic delays at Tan Son Nhat airport in recent years,according to the Steering Centre of the Urban Flood Control Programme.
About 40 percent of all flights in thecountry depart and arrive at Tan Son Nhat airport.
The latest report by the centre found thatthe drainage system has been blocked by trash both inside and outside theairport.
In the landing area and warehouses, watercould not flow out because of narrow sewers.
In 2016, heavy rains flooded parts of theairport, with water rising as high as 20 centimetres, threatening to compromisethe airport’s power generators, and prompting employees to barricade the areawith sandbags.-VNS/VNA
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