For about half a year now the section has been choked by waste and water hyacinth, causing water to stagnate.
The canal flows more than two kilometers in all, with a 1.4-km open section and the rest through box culverts.
As recently as in 2022 the open section of the canal was renovated along with road widening and landscape improvements at a cost of VND629 billion (US$27.7 million), giving it a complete facelift.
But the canal has become polluted again.
In the photo above that was taken this week, a 15-m-wide section is fully covered with garbage, leaving no water visible.
Local residents said waste accumulates in this stagnant section, blocking its flow, as the downstream area has been blocked to serve the upgrade of the Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Rach Nuoc Len Canal.
Pham Sy Vinh, 53, who lives close to the canal, said when it was newly renovated, the section was free of trash and only had water hyacinth.
"This section is the end of the canal. A lot of waste keeps piling up here, and it's getting worse."
Most of the waste is plastic, forming thick clumps that cannot float away.
The section emits a horrific odor.
In the canal close to the waste, the water is blackish.
"The temperature has been high for the past few months, and so the canal emits a foul odor all day," a local woman named Vu Thi Hoa said.
"When it rains, more trash accumulates. At night there are lots of flies, mosquitoes and rats, and people living nearby usually keep their doors shut."
A woman walks past a sign installed a week ago at the section filled with trash by authorities of Binh Hung Hoa Ward in Binh Tan District.
It says: "Dumping trash is prohibited here. Those who throw garbage into the canal face fines of VND200,000 to VND5 million, according to the law. There are security cameras to spot the dumping of trash."
Along other sections of the canal, people dump waste on its banks.
After the renovation the canal even had railings stolen, posing a danger to residents, especially children.
An aerial view of the canal.
In response to VnExpress, Nguyen Phuoc Binh, chairman of the Binh Hung Hoa Ward People's Committee, said the contractors of the Tham Luong - Ben Cat – Nuoc Len project are currently driving piles, which constricts the flow in the Nuoc Den Canal and causes trash to accumulate.
The ward is still waiting for funding to dredge and remove the waste, he said.
"To reduce pollution, the ward will initially mobilize workers to remove some of the trash, and once funding is provided by the city, we will organize a cleanup to purify the canal."
