This canal has nicknames like ‘bad smell canal’ or ‘black water canal’. In picture: Water in Ba Bo canal looks as black as used lubricant oil.

The smell from the canal is terrible, so passers-by have to wear masks.

The houses along the canals are always closed because of the smell. Many households have relocated because the pollution and smell were unbearable.

A thick layer of white bubbles covers the black water.

The bubbles look white from afar, but up close they have many colors - black, red, yellow, etc.

Local households said some enterprises illegally discharge waste water into the canal at night, making the channel more polluted.

Every day, the canal receives nearly 10,000 cubic meters of industrial waste water, affecting the health of nearly 40,000 people in the region. 

Although HCM City has spent more than VND744 billion ($37 million) to improve the canal, pollution still exists.