Greening the navel area

Regenerating contaminated land

Going back in time about 20 years ago, the Yen So area used to be the watershed of the city. Accordingly, every time there was a heavy rain, the drainage system could not handle it, and the people here had to live with flooding.

In particular, the Yen So lake area, where the low-lying lagoon at the end of the Set and Kim Nguu rivers is filled with wastewater from the city, all year round the water is black and smells bad...

Yen So Park is a destination for people in the capital to rest and relax after a week of work and study. Photo: Tuan Anh

Having to regularly receive wastewater from the upstream of the Set and Kim Nguu rivers, this area inevitably suffers from environmental pollution and desertification. Also because the water source is heavily polluted, the agricultural cultivation of local people is very precarious. Notably, in the historic flood of Hanoi in 2008, Yen So pumping station was also submerged in water and could not operate, the whole city was deeply flooded, the Yen So area was therefore even more severely affected.

Deputy Head of the Urban Management Department of Hoang Mai District, Tran Hoang Kim, said that Hoang Mai is the only locality among the inner-city districts that has four rivers flowing through it: To Lich River, Lu River, Set River and Kim Nguu River. These rivers are also the main drainage rivers of the city. Therefore, right from the detailed planning stage, the city, as well as Hoang Mai District, paid attention to the need to solve environmental problems for this area.

In 2007, Gamuda Land Vietnam was established to directly implement and manage projects in Hoang Mai district. After its establishment, this unit started to renovate, dredge, and clean the water of 5 Yen So lake clusters. In addition to renovating and dredging the lakes, the Yen So wastewater treatment plant project was also started in 2009 on an area of ​​91,959m2 with a treatment capacity of 200,000m3/night, aiming to meet the wastewater treatment needs of the Kim Nguu and Set river basins. The investment in the construction of a wastewater treatment plant is an important turning point to solve environmental problems.

Then, in 2014, Yen So Park was officially inaugurated and opened to the public for free. In particular, Yen So Park with its diverse ecosystem is considered the largest green lung of the city, and this project was even awarded the highest award for landscape architecture by the Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia (ILAM).

“People living in Yen So area in particular, and people in Hoang Mai district in general, were very happy, excited and elated to see this place changing day by day; to see with their own eyes how a year-round polluted and abandoned lagoon could be transformed into one of the projects with green infrastructure and a large green park like this,” said Mr. Tran Hoang Kim.

Expectations of separate green cities

Ms. Nguyen Pham Hoang Anh, living in Quan Hoa ward, Cau Giay district, said: "On weekends, my family and friends often visit lakes and green parks in the city, and Yen So park is one of those choices."

In fact, it can be affirmed that Yen So Park is currently a great destination for rest and relaxation to regain inspiration and energy after a stressful week of work and study for the city's residents. It can be said that in the midst of a bustling and crowded capital, there is still a place that brings green space and peaceful natural scenery like Yen So Park, which is truly precious. Currently, every day, hundreds of people come to the park to enjoy, relax and admire the scenery. Of which, on weekends or holidays, there are up to thousands of visitors coming here.

“Yen So Park is not only attractive because of its many trees, but the canopy of the trees here is also very wide and cool, so you can bring friends and relatives here to play in any season. Although the temperature is a bit harsh at noon, this is still a suitable place for camping or gathering for a weekend meal. Especially, if families have small children, they will also love the fresh air of this place,” Ms. Hoang Anh shared.

As for Mr. Nguyen Dinh Bien, living at 151 Nguyen Duc Canh, Tuong Mai ward, Hoang Mai district, he said, because he often visits Yen So park, he also learned deeply about this park and was very impressed by the diversity of the green tree system and the vegetation system here with 124 species of trees.

In addition, in Gamuda Gardens urban area, there are 38 species of large trees, 86 species of shrubs; small potted plants and carpets, including many precious trees such as red ironwood, rosewood, many species of trees with beautiful flowers such as royal poinciana, black ironwood, yellow royal poinciana, lim xet...

“As a former student of the University of Architecture, after graduating and working in architectural design and planning, I found that Yen So Park complex is one of the rare areas in the city that possesses a large regulating lake system; a modern wastewater treatment system and creates a living space that is friendly to nature, as well as living in an environment covered with trees, an airy and fresh living space for the community...” - Mr. Nguyen Dinh Bien shared.

Also on this issue, Deputy Head of the Urban Management Department of Hoang Mai District, Tran Hoang Kim, said: From the orientation of the planning documents, the investor has keenly seen the development potential of the southern gateway land of the capital, from which there are solutions in the Yen So watershed area.

This not only improves the living conditions of the people in the area but also brings a completely different face from the time when Hoang Mai district was first established, because at that time the southern area of ​​Hanoi was considered an underdeveloped area with a lack of social infrastructure and unsynchronized traffic infrastructure.

After more than 20 years of construction, Hoang Mai district has made positive progress, becoming a bright spot in urban infrastructure in the South of the capital. Among them, many new modern and civilized urban areas have been formed, contributing to increasing the efficiency of urban land use, solving housing needs and, together with the increasingly complete infrastructure system, embellishing the image of a modern Hoang Mai, increasingly improving the quality of life for the people.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/xanh-hoa-vung-ron-nuoc.html