The HCM City People’s Committee has directed concerned municipal
departments to survey the city’s drainage network and come up with
solutions to deal with record high tidal rises expected this November.
The National Centre for Hydro Meteorological Forecasting has
cautioned that HCM City will be severely affected by climate change,
forecasting a record high tidal rise of 1.62m in November, the highest
in the last 50 years.
The departments should submit their proposed solutions to the
committee next month, said Nguyen Huu Tin, Vice Chairman of the HCM City
People’s Committee.
He noted that despite recent infrastructure upgrades, the city has
only been able to prevent floods in the central sewer, one among its six
main drainage networks.
Urgent action
Urgent action was required because the frequent flooding of streets
during heavy rains was not only affecting traffic flow, but the daily
lives and health of citizens, he said.
With climate change impacts and overloading of the drainage network
identified as main reasons for the flooding, concerned departments
should conduct fresh evaluations to determine the sewer system’s
carrying capacity, garbage disposal issues and man-made structures that
may obstruct water drainage, he said.
The city’s drainage system was originally designed to deal with a
maximum rise in tides of 1.32m, but climate change impacts have pushed
this up to 1.58m during heavy downpours.
As of now, the city has 3,200km of sewers that are old and have low
carrying capacity. It is estimated that an additional 2,500km of sewers
will be needed for effective flood prevention.
Overpopulation is another issue. Originally designed for a city of
2.5 million, the drainage system now has to deal with a population of 10
million.
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