Rain caused flooding on Vo Nguyen Giap Street (Vung Tau City). |
Small rain also floods
In recent years, flooding has occurred on almost all roads and even in residential areas when it rains in the province. Mr. Tran Quoc Kinh, who lives in alley 780 Binh Gia Street (Ward 10, Vung Tau City), said that every time it rains heavily, water floods from the road into his house. "I have to put my electronic devices on high ground to be able to use them, otherwise it will be unsafe for electricity and endanger my life," Mr. Kinh said.
On the evening of May 22, the heavy rain lasted less than 2 hours (from 7pm to 9pm) but caused many roads and areas in Vung Tau City to be deeply flooded. In particular, Thi Sach Street was flooded about 60cm deep, causing many vehicles to stall.
Similarly, the rain on the evening of May 28 turned many roads in Phu My City into rivers. Specifically, Highway 51 in front of Phu My City People's Committee to the intersection of My Xuan B1 Industrial Park - Highway 51 and roads near Highway 51... some spots were flooded about 30-40cm deep. Many cars near the 18-storey apartment building (Phu My Ward) had water entering the cars and the driver's compartment.
According to statistics from Vietnam Science and Technology Joint Stock Company (Busadco), National Highway 51 passing through the wards of Tan Phuoc, Phuoc Hoa, Phu My, My Xuan (Phu My City) has 9 points that are frequently flooded during heavy rains. The most heavily flooded areas are the intersection between National Highway 51 and Road 81, the section from the 18-storey apartment building to Phu My Golf Hotel, in front of the gate of My Xuan B1 Industrial Park, Ngoc Ha quarter, Dai Tong Lam pagoda, Trade Center, etc.
Mr. Mai Trung Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Construction, said that in recent years, urban flooding in the province has been getting worse. The number of times, points and duration of flooding each year is higher than the previous year. Currently, there are 60 deep flooding points in the province every time there is heavy rain. The Department of Construction identified four causes of urban flooding: climate change; rapid urbanization; management and operation; and incomplete urban drainage systems.
Many areas of natural land have been filled or converted to artificial surfaces. Previously, rainwater mainly seeped into the ground, but now it flows over the surface and flows onto the streets, while the drainage system has not been invested in or is overloaded, leading to flooding. In addition, the drainage system in two cities with high urbanization rates, Vung Tau City and Phu My City, has not been invested in and built synchronously, is still patchy, and cannot meet drainage needs.
In addition to the above 4 causes, the main cause of urban flooding is that in recent years, the capital allocated for annual dredging maintenance has only met about 65-70% of the demand.
Maintaining and dredging the drainage system is an urgent task to prevent urban flooding. |
Urgent task
According to Mr. Mai Trung Hung, in the past 5 years (2019-2023), many drainage systems have been invested in and handed over for use. However, the investment in developing drainage networks in urban areas such as Vung Tau City, Ba Ria City, and Phu My City has not kept up with the pace of urbanization and planning. The most worrying thing is Vung Tau City, where the regulating lakes have not been built and expanded according to the plan, the main drainage axes of the basin have not been built, and the main drainage channels of the city have not been invested in and upgraded. The current situation is mainly earthen ditches with many intersecting roads that limit the flow rate, causing serious local flooding.
In order to carry out the task of managing the drainage system, the Department of Construction annually presides over and coordinates with localities to conduct surveys and make estimates for maintenance and repair work; maintain dredging and patrol the operation of drainage systems in urban areas. However, the process of developing legal documents has not been timely, so in 2024 the drainage system in the province has not been dredged. The province is implementing the maintenance and dredging of the drainage system according to the 2025 plan. Accordingly, the total estimated value in 2025 for dredging and patrolling the operation of urban drainage systems is nearly 160 billion VND. The dredging of the drainage system was deployed in June and urgently implemented to complete in August.
In parallel with dredging the drainage system, the province also invested in new drainage systems to overcome the serious flooding situation in some sections of National Highway 51 and surrounding areas during the rainy season. For example, the project "Main drainage route along National Highway 51" with a total length of 14.87km is being implemented in Phu My City. The project consists of 4 areas divided into 2 component projects. Component project 1 (section from Highway 2A to Hue Quang Pagoda, section from VCB to Ngoc Ha Bridge and section from Phuoc Hoa-Cai Mep Road to Rach Tre Bridge) is invested by Phu My City People's Committee with a total investment after adjustment of more than 366.5 billion VND...
Component project 2 (from Planning Road 46 to Phuoc Hoa-Cai Mep Road) is invested by the Provincial Traffic and Civil Project Management Board with a total length of about 7.47km, of which the main route is about 5.34km and the branch route is about 2.13km.
Thus, when the maintenance and dredging of the drainage system is carried out and drainage projects are invested synchronously, the urban flooding situation during the rainy season will be basically overcome.
Article and photos: QUANG VU
Source: https://baobariavungtau.com.vn/kinh-te/202506/cap-bach-phong-chong-ngap-ung-1045144/
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