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Tan Son Nhat Airport is submerged after a heavy downpour, as seen in a file photo by VnExpress |
The Ho Chi Minh City Urban Flood Control Steering Center has asked the municipal administration to allocate VND150 billion ($6.7 million) from the city budget for upgrading the Hy Vong Canal in Tan Binh District, which lies to the city's northwest and home to the country's largest airport.
It has also asked the Department of Transport to speed up finalization of procedures for the channel upgrade project.
The Hy Vong Canal upgrade project was originally approved by HCMC authorities in 2013.
In 2014, the project received funding from the World Bank as part of a bigger flooding management project for HCMC as a whole. The Hy Vong Canal upgrade was expected to cost VND110 billion.
However, the World Bank later stopped funding the big project, and the Hy Vong Canal upgrade was put on hold, awaiting new sources of funding.
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Trash clogs the Hy Vong Canal outside Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Nguyen |
The Hy Vong Canal, along with the A41 and Nhat Ban Canal, are the three drainage canals for the Tan Son Nhat Airport. Residents have been throwing garbage into them for years, and they have become clogged and unable to drain rainwater from the airport effectively, resulting in flooding during heavy rains.
The Tan Son Nhat International Airport is a frequent victim of flooding. In 2015, heavy rains flooded several parts of the airport, with water rising to as high as 20 centimeters, threatening to compromise the airport’s power generators, and prompting employees to barricade the area with sand bags. Littering that blocked a two-kilometer long drainage canal had caused the flooding.
