Nguyen Huu Canh Street in HCM City’s Binh Thanh district is flooded after heavy rains recently. (Photo: VNA) “Poorlyplanned urban development” is to blame for the many problems faced by thecountry’s largest city, they said.
Urbandevelopment can change the environment through, for example, expanding pavedareas and preventing rainwater from being absorbed by the soil, increasingflooding, especially in low-lying areas, they pointed out.
ArchitectNgo Viet Nam Son said the growing concentration of people and constructionworks are among the causes of the city’s congestion and flooding.
“Thecity has focused too much urban development in its inner areas,” he said.
Itneeds to develop clusters of urban areas instead of focusing too much on thedowntown, he said.
“Thelack of green spaces and water bodies is another cause.”
Forinstance, poor solid-waste management could block rainwater and sewage drains,leading to waterlogging and flooding, he said.
Thecity should reduce the density of social infrastructure in its central areasand increase green spaces and water bodies there, he said.
Healso said underground spaces in the central area require reservoirs to storerainwater to prevent flooding.
DrHo Long Phi said it is important to improve the capacity of the sewer system,create reservoirs to store rainwater and dredge canals to keep tides low.
“Butthe cost of anti-flood works is so high that the city cannot afford it and itrequires private investment.”
Thepoor regulation of construction of apartment buildings and inadequate wastemanagement could be another reason for flooding, he said.
Itshould be made mandatory for property developers to increase green spaces andwater surface areas to increase water storage and drainage capacity to preventflooding, he added.
Majortraffic works
Anofficial from the city Department of Transport said work on major traffic workswould be sped up to address congestion, including Ring Roads 2, 3 and 4, andmetro line Nos 1 and 2.
Itwould soon open the HCM City – Moc Bai Expressway, expand the HCM City - TrungLuong and HCM City - Long Thanh – Dau Giay expressways and build the HCM City –Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh Highway, he said.
Itwould widen National Highways 1, 50 and 13 and build a number of newbridges such as Rach Doi, Thu Thiem 3 and 4, inh Quoi, Can Gio, Phu Xuan 2B, CatLai, and Truong Phuoc, he added.
Toaddress flooding, the city plans to soon begin work on the third phase of aproject to improve the Ben Nghe - Tau Hu - Doi - Te Canal water environment,improve the drainage and wastewater networks and begin climate changemitigation works in the west.
Itwill renovate seven main drainage systems at canals such as Ba Tieng, Xom Cui,Ba Lon, Thu Dao, Ong Be, and Thay Tieu.
Itwill also speed up the first phase of a 10 trillion VND project to tackleflooding caused by high tides./.
VNA
