Long was speaking at a radio exchange that brought government officials and members of the public together for discussions of bread-and-butter issues.

The program, approved by the government, envisages building a mass dike and drainage system through HCMC’s rural Cu Chi District to neighboring Long An Province, he said, citing a report by the center.

In the meantime, HCMC authorities would dredge current drainage canals and install sluice gates to act as exhaust valves along river banks to reduce flooding during high tides, according to the center.

Preventing flooding from high tides in low-lying areas like Nguyen Huu Canh, Nguyen Van Luong, An Duong Vuong, Phan Dinh Phung and Kha Van Can streets as well as Thanh Da island, would also be a main thrust of the program, said the center.

Floods and the city

A four-hour downpour last Tuesday, which left motorists stranded by floods on downtown streets like Tran Hung Dao, Le Lai, Le Loi and Le Thanh Ton, was the city’s latest bout with its insufficient drainage system.

Nearly two-thirds of HCMC would be affected by flooding by 2050, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) study released at a seminar last week.

Globally, HCMC has been identified as one of the 10 cities most likely to be severely impacted by climate change, according to a report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In 2050, up to 71 percent of the city’s 2,095 sq km area would be affected by flooding during large storms, said a study by the ADB’s International Center for Environmental Management (ICEM). By that time, nearly 200 km of railway, 69 km of proposed monorail and light rail and 80 percent of traffic intersections would be within the projected flood zone, the study said.

The airports would not be flooded but access would be affected, according to the study.

Calculated on annual average flood duration now, many areas would be under floodwater for more than 100 days in 2050 in a year, said the report.

It also said most wards in District 9 would be under water for more than 150 days a year.

Over 170, or more than half, of the city’s communes would be regularly affected by floods, covering 61 percent of the city area, according to ICEM.

Losses worth between $6.69 billion and $22.1 billion could be swept away by regular flooding, and between $460 million and $6.68 billion by extreme flooding, the report said.

According to ICEM, nearly two-thirds of the projected city population, or about 12.9 million people, were expected to be affected by extreme events. Today, an extreme storm event affects around 1.7 million people, or 26 percent of the current HCMC population.

Close to half of the industrial zones and economic clusters would be flooded whether the flood control system is in place or not.

VietNamNet/Thanh Nien