HCM CITY — The HCM City People’s Committee has ordered Bình Thạnh District to install cameras by the end of next month to monitor littering in canals.

Inspecting illegal encroachments in canals and drainage systems in the district this week, city deputy chairman Lê Văn Khoa said on Wednesday Bình Thạnh authorities should educate local residents about the damage caused by throwing rubbish into canals.

More than 10 canals and several drainage gates in the district have been illegally encroached on, resulting in flooding in many areas during rains, according to the Steering Centre of Urban Flood Control Programme.

Many streets such as Bạch Đằng, Ung Văn Khiêm, Nguyễn Xí and Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh are seriously inundated since the flow of the canals that drain them have been blocked.

Văn Thánh, Cầu Bông, Bến Bồi 1, Bến Bồi 2, Tam Vàm Tắc and Bùi Hữu Nghĩa canals, for instance, have narrowed because houses have been illegally built along them.

Bình Thạnh should build a pumping station to mitigate the flooding on Bạch Đằng Street, Khoa said.

The Steering Centre of Urban Flood Control Programme should increase the pumping capacity on Ung Văn Khiêm Street to 2,000cu.m per hour to reduce flooding on it, he said.

In the long term, however, its drainage system needs to be upgraded, he said.

The system was built before 1975.

The city would entrust the district with clearing rubbish from canals, a task now done by the centre, Khoa said. 

He also assigned the centre to upgrade and dredge Xuyên Tâm Canal, which will help prevent flooding in an area of 700ha in Bình Thạnh and Gò Vấp districts.

Airport flood prevention

On Wednesday the city Department of Transport proposed to the People’s Committee measures to tackle the flooding at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in Tân Bình District.

Short-term solutions include fixing a collapsed sewage section that crosses Phan Thúc Duyện Street and installing a pump to increase the drainage capacity of A41 Canal.

The Steering Centre of Urban Flood Control Programme should work with the Tân Bình People’s Committee to clear illegal encroachments along A41 Canal and dredge the canal, according to the proposals.

In the long term work to upgrade the canal from the airport to Cộng Hoà Street and Nhật Bản Canal to drain the airport and nearby residential areas should be speeded up.

The airport should make plans to build a reservoir to regulate water and collect opinions from relevant agencies this month.

The Steering Centre of Urban Flood Control Programme will draft a general plan to improve water drainage at the airport.

The airport is badly inundated at several places when there are heavy rains. — VNS