LookAtVietnam – It has been revealed that HCM City has only 1039km of drainage sewers, equivalent to one sixth of the needed drainage system for the city.

It has meant floods have become a nightmare for HCM City people.

“Whenever the sky is shrouded in dark clouds, I have to quickly come home to prevent floods. My house is always submerged in downpours,” said Nguyen Thanh Tuan, who lives in an alley on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Road, Ward 7, District 3, HCM City.

In its latest report to the HCM City authorities, the HCM City Flood Prevention Centre said that up to 55 percent of the city’s area is low lands, which are seriously hit by flood tide.

Statistics show that HCM City has 2008km of rivers and canals and 1050km of dikes and dams. Around 200km of dikes and dams are unstable, which fail to prevent water when flood tide comes. The city also has 1039km of drainage sewers, equivalent to one sixth of the needed sewer. Whenever flood tide rises, up to 79 roads are submerged.

The HCM City Flood Prevention Centre said that the lack of pipes to connecting the city’s new drainage sewers is also a problem.

This situation is made even more difficult this year with rainfall very high. According to the Hydrometeorology Station of the Southern Region, From January to August 2009, HCM City had 69 downpours, many of them between 90-120mm.

HCM City has taken many urgent measures to prevent flood in the inner city. It has reported to reduce the number of flood sites by 48 compared to 2008. However, the city authorities are still unable to give assurances about when locals can expect the city to be flood free.

Nhat Tan