Upgrade of 20 water drainage systems on Ha Noi streets is currently underway in areas at high risk of flooding during the rainy season. The project was expected to be completed by June, ahead of the start of the rainy season, said Nguyen Le, Director General of the Ha Noi Water Drainage Company.
He admitted that the city’s water drainage system had limited ability to effectively deal with rain and waste water.
The sewerage density per capita in the city is 0.35m, six times lower than that of other urban centres around the world. Older city streets benefit from the existing sewerage network but many new routes do not yet have a sewerage system. Meanwhile, the capacity of some rivers for water drainage in the city remains weak, including Kim Nguu, Lu, Nhue and Cau Bay rivers. Although upgrade projects were completed, 0.5m of new mud had accumulated, reducing their water storage capacity, he said.
In response, the company would speed up dredging and upgrades of the rivers and other areas that face high-risk of flooding, such as Thuy Khue, Ngoc Ha, Lieu Giai and Thanh Xuan streets 1-2 times per month, Le added. Fixed and mobile pumping stations would be available for use whenever heavy rains occurred, particularly the Yen So pumping station, he said.
Also, when there were more than 50mm of rain falls, transport inspectors would be mobilised to help prevent traffic jams and deployed on guard near manholes to ensure public safety. However, he said, for long-term flood management it was essential to implement large-scale projects such as upgrade of all water drainage systems, increasing the capacity of the Yen So pumping station to 90cu.m per second and building more pumping stations.