VietNamNet Bridge – Flooding impacts around 26% of city dwellers and costs this economic hub of Vietnam thousands of billions of Vietnam dong a year, said the HCMC center for the anti-flood program.

The center warned at a recent meeting that the proportion of local people hit by flooding in the city could rise to 62% in the future if no effective measures are found to control floods.

According to the center, HCMC has had to develop more urban areas to boost socio-economic development and this has caused overload in old drainage systems in the city.

Meanwhile, floods have wreaked havoc on more areas in the city in recent years due to unfavorable weather developments.   

Flooding not only causes economic losses estimated at thousands of billions of Vietnam dong a year but also exacts heavy toll on city dwellers, the center said.

The city government has listed flood control as one of the six major breakthrough programs for the 2011-2015 period and is looking for funding from different sources including the private sector to tame flooding.

Recently, Trung Nam Joint Stock Co. has conducted a feasibility study for the project to deal with floods triggered by flood tides in an area of 570 square kilometers with around 6.5 million people on the right bank of the Saigon River. The project costs VND9.93 trillion (US$445 million) and has been submitted to the city government for appraisal.

The build-transfer (BT) project is envisaged developing six sluices to cushion the pact of flood tides in Ben Nghe, Tan Thuan, Phu Xuan, Muong Chuoi, Cay Kho and Phu Dinh, and a riverside dyke along the Saigon River’s Vam Thuan-Song Kinh section. The investor plans to execute this project in 2015-2018.

At a recent meeting on flood control, the HCMC government said it will need nearly VND68 trillion to carry out many key flood control projects in the 2016-2020 period.

Drainage and anti-flooding works built in the city over the past 10 years can meet just 10% of demand.

SGT