HCM City’s Union of Science and
Technology Association has set up a team to discover the cause of the sinkholes
that have appeared in many locations in the city.

So far
59 of the sinkholes have appeared after first appearing in July and the
12-member expert team is set to study them, find the cause, and offer solutions.

It will
survey 30 of the biggest holes and investigate if they have anything to do with
electricity and telecom cables and water pipes that have been laid within a
radius of 50m.

The team
will also drill to a depth of 0.3m – 10m at these sites to check the geological
status and groundwater level.

Engineer
Vu Duc Thang, deputy chairman of the city Association of Consultants in Science,
Technology and Management hailed the setting up of the team after authorities
had earlier passed the buck to each other.

Last
week deputy chief of the Institute of Water and Environment Technology, Vu Van
Bang, tried twice to uncover more sinkholes to prevent further mishaps but
failed.

Among
the worst sinkholes are one on Le Van Sy Street in District 3, which is two
metres deep and measures five metres by four metres, and another in Go Vap
District which is 1.5m deep. A taxi was trapped in the former and a truck in the
latter since September.

Dr. Dang
Huu Tiep, director of the Union of Geo-Engineering, Construction and
Environment, said the depressions were a consequence of the land structure and
water in the city. The most important cause was the bogginess of the land in
many places in the country’s south-east, he said.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News