HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Aug. 21, 2015 — Street flooding is such a common occurrence in the city’s residential areas that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung considers building infrastructure for flood control a top priority, according to tuoitrenews.vn.
Tan Dung approved a two-phase plan to end the problem in the first stage by 2020, stated the article. The plan’s second stage ends in 2025.
City officials are encouraged to coordinate with other agencies to implement the plan, shared the article.
The city is vulnerable to flooding because most of its areas rise just 1.5 meters above sea level, noted the article. Floodwater peaked at 1.68 meters in 2013, and it is expected to worsen because of climate change and rising seas, as well as the aging of drainage systems.
Ho Chi Minh City has invested millions of dollars to dredge rivers and canals and upgrade drainage pipes, reported the article. Many rivers and canals also have dikes built around them.
While the number of severely flooded sites in economic and financial hubs has gone down from 95 to 33, "only 43 percent of the water drainage systems, 12 percent of the canals and one-fifth of the spillway dams of the city have been upgraded," stated the article.
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