HCM CITY — Flood prevention works in HCM City between 2016 and 2020 are estimated to cost more than VNĐ96.3 trillion (US$4.2 billion), according to its Steering Centre of the Urban Flood Control Programme.

At a meeting held to review the programme’s implementation on May 18, Nguyễn Hoàng Anh Dũng, the centre’s deputy director, said the amount included VNĐ21.9 trillion ($960.5 billion) from the private sector.

The flood prevention projects include construction of three irrigation reservoirs, upgrades to the storm drain system and the Xuyên Tâm Canal, and construction of seven wastewater treatment plants.

Two and a half years after starting the programme the centre has achieved the goal of preventing flooding in the city’s 550sq.km central area and five neighbouring areas, according to Dũng.

This year seven more main streets and 445 alleys will become flooding-free.

River tides too flood many streets, but four have now put this problem behind them.

Many of the projects in the programme had been delayed due to shortage of funds, and the People’s Committee should seek financing from the private sector and official development assistance, Dũng said.

It should instruct relevant agencies to take severe action against encroachment of drains and illegal filling of canals, he said.    

Canals and channels should be regularly dredged, he said.    

Nguyễn Thành Phong, Chairman of the city People’s Committee, called on relevant agencies and districts to co-ordinate with the centre for flood prevention.

Urban management and co-ordination were “limited”, leading to low effectiveness of flood-prevention efforts, he said.

The centre should earmark more spaces for water storage and do further research into water drainage, he said.

There were many reasons for flooding, including tides, heavy rains, failure to dredge canals and channels, and others, he said.

So many different measures were required and applied simultaneously to resolve the problem, he added.— VNS