A section of Tan Hoa - Lo Gom canal after renovation
With a length of about 2,000km, the system of rivers and canals is a natural resource that plays an important role in Ho Chi Minh City’s formation and development process and they also create a natural landscape for the urban space. However, polluted rivers and canals have destroyed living quality; so the southern largest city is determined to green the canal system for making the most of green space for people’s health outcomes. Canal revival breathes life back into HCMC
Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len canal
With a total investment of VND8,200 billion, the infrastructure construction project to improve the environment of the Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len canal is being accelerated by the Management Board of the Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Projects in Ho Chi Minh City. Currently, 9/10 bidding packages are deployed simultaneously throughout the route in 7 districts. At package XL-08 for the 2.4km section from Cho Cau Bridge to Truong Dai bridge, groups of workers are busy driving centrifugal concrete piles on both sides of the canal in districts 12 and Go Vap.
Elsewhere about 10km away, dozens of workers also rushed to build the foundation with cement piles in a construction site in Binh Tan and Binh Chanh districts while their peers in another construction site are also simultaneously deploying the work of vibration and lowering of SW prestressed concrete slabs.
At the construction site, supervision consultant of Nhat Minh Company for the contract package XL-08 Mai Van Lam said that the construction will be on schedule. On the construction site, the contractor has mobilized all construction materials and machinery, regardless of holidays or rainy weather, to speed up the progress so that the bidding will be completed on schedule. Currently, the contractor is racing the construction of the embankment item, then will carry out the following items of the embankment, drainage pipes, and technical infrastructure so that it can be finished before the Lunar New Year this year.
Looking at the canal embankments and roads in the morning and afternoon that are nearly completed, inhabitants living along the Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len canal were delighted. 64 years old resident, Bui Thanh Hien, in Ward 13 of Go Vap District said that workers worked relentlessly, the sludge from the canal bed has been dredged, the water has flowed unlike before when the stagnation of dirty water in the canal has irked residents living in near the canal. Therefore, everyone is looking forward to the project’s early completion.
According to Mr. Nguyen Hoang Anh Dung, Deputy Director of the management board of the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project, it is expected that VND 1,650 billion will be disbursed for the project by the end of 2023.
Many canals have been revived
The revival of the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal is a testament to the city's efforts in greening the canal in recent years. The Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal is a canal flowing through districts 1, 3, Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, and Tan Binh. In 2003, the World Bank-funded Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Water Environmental Sanitation Project was implemented to restore the canal. The project with a capital of more than US$300 million includes the removal of undergrowth obstructing the flow of water in the stream and the installation of a sewer line running along the canal to the pumping station for wastewater treatment.
After clearing thousands of temporary houses along canals and rivers, the city continued to invest in building two routes Hoang Sa - Truong Sa along the canal. Up to now, the two beautiful roads have been shaded with green trees and airy sidewalks which have become a place for people to have fun, rest, get some fresh air, and practice exercise and sports. At the end of 2015, the city began implementing the first urban waterway tourist route on the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal.
In April 2015, the project was inaugurated. With a total length of 19km and an investment of about US$162 million, the Tan Hoa - Lo Gom canal renovation project has greatly changed the lives of people around the canal banks in districts 6, 11, Tan Binh, and Tan Phu.
The Nuoc Den canal renovation project in Binh Tan District started in the first quarter of 2020, with a total investment of VND 629 billion also reached the finish line in 2022. The project contributes to changing the landscape and environment along the canal. After renovation, the canal bed was dredged, and both banks were firmly embanked with railings over 1.5m high sidewalks nearly 1m wide.
By staff writers – Translated by Anh Quan