A concrete cover of a sewer on the sidewalk of Khuat Duy Tien Street in Hanoi's Thanh Xuan District has been broken for months.
Vinh, a moto-taxi driver, said the cover had collapsed after many people drove over it.
"I have to pick tree branches or a tire to place at the damaged area to warn others because many usually drive their motorbikes on the sidewalk during rush hour, and in some cases people wait for the bus here," he said.
A manhole cover on the sidewalk of Nguyen Xien Street is broken and the iron framework inside is exposed.
Someone has placed a wooden plate there as a warning.
A drainage sewer system on Thanh Binh Street of Ha Dong District has no cover.
Along the streets, there are at least 10 other sewers in the same situation.
Around 30 metal manhole covers on the sidewalk of Ly Thanh Tong Street have been stolen over the past two years.
The street runs 4.2 km and the manholes lay 100-200 m away from each other. Locals have to chop down tree branches to cover up the holes.
A telecommunications cable inside a manhole with no cover on Ly Thanh Tong Street.
An employee said, "the electricity from these cables is not too strong to cause any serious accident but I'm worried people don't know there are such big holes when the street is flooded."
Manholes without covers on Ly Thanh Tong Street, Hanoi. Video by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh
In Ho Chi Minh City, two manholes lay with no covers in Thu Thiem New Urban Area in Thu Duc City.
A worker at a nearby construction site said the manhole covers in the area were made of cast iron and thieves often take them.
Another manhole of 1.5 m deep in Thu Thiem has no cover and someone has placed a wooden plank over it as a warning.
Street vendor Tran Thi My Hien places tree branches on an open manhole on Man Thien Street of Thu Duc.
She said the cover collapsed a month ago.
"I have to place a tree branch in this hole almost every day," she says.
A sewer section with no cover on a street linking Thu Duc and Binh Thanh District. The section stretches 0.5 m wide and 1 m deep.
According to the Hanoi Highway Construction and Investment JSC that built the street, some people smash the concrete covers to get the metal inside to sell as scrap.
From late April to mid-May, more than 200 covers have been smashed. On the early morning of May 16, a man was found smashing a cover and when spotted, he fled on his motorbikes, leaving behind a bag of many iron pieces he had tried to steal.
In July 2021, a man was found dead after falling into a manhole with no cover on Dang Vu Hy Street in Hanoi’s Long Bien District. Another man was killed in the same situation on Kinh Duong Vuong Street of HCMC in October 2016.
Cases of people being injured after driving into uncovered manholes when streets are flooded are also common in both cities.
