Forum of People's Will to the Party: Solving Flooding - a Criterion of the Happiness Index

ngập nước - Ảnh 1. — The "war" against flooding will continue if many measures are not implemented resolutely and synchronously - Illustration photo: TTO

One of our life wishes: to solve the problem of urban flooding.

With the increasingly unpredictable weather conditions, "super storms" will no longer be rare, so flood prevention must be considered an urgent, urgent political task.

In his recent speeches at the Party Congresses of the Government, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, General Secretary To Lam emphasized the "three fights": fighting floods, fighting traffic congestion, and fighting environmental pollution.

That is also the desire of the people of big cities and the whole country. For decades we have been trying to solve and overcome the existence of this "combo". However, the progress and results have not been as expected.

Solve difficult problems together

The image of people in Hanoi having to "swim" in the sea of water, after super typhoon Bualoi swept through, attracted public attention. Many other cities also fall into similar situations whenever there is heavy, prolonged rain.

Many measures to prevent flooding have been put into full use. Local authorities try their best but sometimes they are helpless due to heavy flooding. The fact that many urban areas are "broken" during the rainy season is no longer a risk but a reality that needs to be frankly acknowledged.

Even in places where flooding was considered impossible, such as the "mountain town" of Da Lat and the coastal town of Phu Quoc, there were also partial flooding. So what is the cause of flooding?

The rapid pace of urbanization, concretization, and the rapid and dense increase in construction density are only part of the story. Without construction, it is not development; the problem lies in how to calculate how to carry out drainage works in parallel, meeting the need to release rainwater on the ground. Avoid the situation of being absorbed in investing in bustling urban areas and skyscrapers, but forgetting the extremely important role of underground works.

Solving the drainage problem in densely populated cities is not simple. Ho Chi Minh City has the "rich street" Thao Dien (formerly Thu Duc City), now in An Khanh ward, but it cannot escape the situation of wading in rainwater. Recently, in the middle of the capital, some high-class residential areas still have to "live with" water. The magnificent constructions above do not help prevent flooding.

Each locality has its own terrain characteristics that bring different difficulties and advantages. The center of Ho Chi Minh City has a dense network of rivers and canals. Meanwhile, Hanoi's advantage lies in its extensive system of lakes and ponds. These are all very useful factors for regulating rainwater and regulating the climate. The capital's government recently pumped water from West Lake to rescue and revive To Lich River, which is enough to show that the capacity of lakes and ponds is more than enough to receive rainwater.

The fundamental lack today is the lack of "specialized" sewer systems, whose sole task is to transport rainwater to rivers and canals, not to take on the role of transporting domestic wastewater. Better late than never! Urgently build underground sewer networks with large diameters, responsible for transporting rainwater to the nearest lakes and ponds. Every few kilometers you will see a canal or a lake, so it would be a pity not to take advantage of them to prevent flooding.

Resolving the "living with flooding" problem once and for all

Flood prevention is very different from road repair, you can't just fix the damaged area. You need a long-term strategy, calculating for use for hundreds of years to come. Ho Chi Minh City has just proposed a very good idea: building an underground reservoir to regulate rainwater under a football field, to prevent flooding in the Thu Duc market area. Consider this a pilot project, learn from experience, and continue to replicate it when it is effective.

Review existing residential areas and areas preparing for construction. Add mandatory criteria for investors to ensure the completion of the rainwater drainage system, along with the completion of newly completed projects. Many apartments are flooded deep in the basement due to the lack of drainage space for rainwater.

In addition, it is necessary to resolutely deal with littering, throwing garbage, and dumping untreated waste into rivers and canals. There are cameras integrated with AI to monitor traffic violations, and there should also be similar "magic eyes" to detect environmental violations.

When humans "kill" nature, nature cannot be expected to help humans. On the street, it is easy to see images of manholes and sewers blocked with all kinds of garbage, or sacks stuffed by people to reduce the smell. However, when it rains, no one removes them, so the community suffers the consequences. After all, flooding and littering have the same harmful effects.

The "war" against flooding will continue if many drastic and synchronous measures are not implemented. Combining science with traditional methods, while raising awareness of environmental protection for each citizen, is the only hope to successfully solve the problem of flood prevention.

With the increasingly unpredictable weather conditions, "super storms" will no longer be rare, so flood prevention must be considered an urgent, political task.

Can Tho City has just organized a public consultation to get people to contribute ideas on flood prevention, along with a suitable reward policy. Other localities should also "consult" to receive good ideas from the masses.

Draft documents announced by the 13th Party Central Committee for comments include:

- Draft Political Report of the 13th Party Central Committee at the 14th Party Congress.

Please see full text here.

- Draft Action Program of the Party Central Committee to implement the Resolution of the 14th National Congress of the Party (attached with the Political Report).

Please see full text here.

- Appendix 4: Assessment of 5 years of implementing the 10-year Socio-Economic Development Strategy 2021-2030.

Please see full text here.

- Appendix 5: On summarizing Party building work during the 13th Congress term and directions, tasks, and solutions for Party building work during the 14th Congress term.

Please see full text here.

- Draft Report summarizing a number of theoretical and practical issues on the socialist-oriented renovation process over the past 40 years in Vietnam.

Please see full text here.

- Draft Report summarizing 15 years of implementing the Party Charter (2011-2025) and proposals and directions for supplementing and amending the Party Charter.

Please see full text here.