HCM CITY – HCM City is considering to bury overhead electricity and telecommunication cables on 46 small streets in Districts 1 and 3 to improve the quality of life for locals.

Between 2011 and 2015, 104 projects were carried out on 62 main streets, with 358 km of medium-voltage and 620 km of low-voltage cables buried underground.

The city authority plans to bury another 650 km of medium-voltage and 1,150 km of low-voltage cables, focusing on main streets in Districts 1 and 3 between 2016 and 2020.

Though it is important to bury all cables on main streets, thousands of small streets are in need of cable burial as well.

Last year, after receiving complaints from locals on Street 85, a small street which crosses with Rạch Bùng Binh Street in District 3, Sài Gòn Power Company was ordered to extend an ongoing cable burying project to include Street 85.

Tiêu, a local on Street 85, said that people’s lives have become better with many being able to renovate their houses after 40 years living with tangled messes of overhead power, phone and television wires.

Trần Văn Toàn, deputy head Sài Gòn Power Company, added that since city authorities did not have plans to bury cables on small streets, the company tended to skip them.

The successful upgrade on Street 85 has encouraged District 3 authorities to expand the project to other small streets which have degraded infrastructure and are prone to fire accidents.

Street 116, which crosses with Vườn Chuối Street, is an example.

Toàn said that due to a limited budget, city authorities have to prioritise main streets.

It was convenient to carry out the Street 85 project since its wire system was directly linked to that of the main streets. It would take more time for a cable burying project to be considered and approved if a small street is separate from main streets, Toàn added.

Recently, District 3 authorities have met with power companies to discuss further schemes for cable burying on small streets and will provide them with financial loans, if necessary.

Among 46 small streets planned to have cables removed, eight would be in District 1’s Đa Kao, Bến Thành, and Nguyễn Thái Bình wards, while the rest would be in District 3.

In addition to burying cables underground, authorities will carry out small street expansion projects.

Local support is essential to speed up the process, authorities said. – VNS