VietNamNet Bridge – While the number of flooded areas in the inner city has decreased, suburb areas tend to incur heavier flooding.

New flooded areas have appeared in the districts of Thu Duc, Binh Chanh and Nha Be. Especially, some areas in Cu Chi district, which rarely saw flooding in the past, can also be also inundated in the flood tide.

According to Do Tan Long, a senior official of the HCM City Center for Operating the Anti-flooding Program, since early November, when flood tide and heavy rains came at the same time, the water overflowed the canal edges to flood roads and houses in Binh Chanh and Thu Duc districts. New flooded areas have appeared in districts 12 and Hoc Mon.

When asked why suburb areas have incurred heavier floods, Long has attributed to the rapid urbanization in the areas. More and more houses have been built on the areas, which were once lakes and ponds, while a lot of spontaneous residential quarters have been set up, which has made the drainage capacity weaker.

Environmentalists have pointed out that thousands of hectares of land containing water in HCM City have disappeared during the rapid urbanization. A lot of canals and lakes have been filled to give place to houses.

A report showed that 47 canals with the total area of 16.4 hectares have disappeared over the last 10 years. In 2002-2009, the water containing capacity of the lakes and ponds in the city reduced by 10 times.

The heavy rain and flood tide on November 7 alone caused the flooding on 90 places, 64 of which suffered heavily.

Nguyen Dan Dan, a resident in Cu Chi district, complained that even the alleys in Hoa Phu commune were also inundated after the recent heavy rain.

Long said the anti-flooding center would have a meeting with the people’s committee in some days to reckon the number of new flooded areas and discuss the solutions.

At the workshop on disaster risk reduction held by the HCM City Department of Natural Resources and the Environment on November 13, the representative of the HCM City Climate Change Office said 154 wards and communes of the city are inundated regularly. The number is forecast to increase to 177 by 2050, which means that 61 percent of the city’s total area would suffer from flooding by that time.

Regarding the problems caused by the climate change, Thanh, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute of Hydrometeorology and Environment, said the average temperature in Vietnam has increased by 0.5oC over the last 50 years, with less drizzle in the north and more heavy rains.

Also according to Thanh, the latest reports showed that the average coastal water level increases by 2.8 mm every year. The climate change has also caused to more natural calamities, typhoons, floods and droughts. Meanwhile, more typhoons head to the south.

Thanh cited a report on the scenarios for the climate change as saying that if the sea water level rises by one meter, 21 percent of the HCM City area would be flooded, which would influence 7 percent of the population and cause severe economic damages.

“The climate change has been caused by humans, while only humans can help slow down or ease the consequences of the climate change,” Thanh said.

Chi Mai