After Lao Động published the article “Incomplete resettlement project causing severe flooding in residential area in Hạ Long” on July 19, 2024, the project investor, the Project Management Board of Hạ Long City (Board), issued document No. 1274/QLDA regarding the inspection and remediation report.
According to the document, the technical infrastructure project for the residential and resettlement area in zone 5, Giếng Đáy ward, was approved for adjustment by the Hạ Long City People's Committee in Decision No. 3691/QĐ-UBND dated December 8, 2023; with a scale of 4.78 hectares, to be completed in 2024.
As a new residential area with synchronized technical infrastructure for 216 plots for resettlement, the project has so far basically completed 150 plots and continues to complete the remaining project items.
The project implementation faced many difficulties and obstacles due to the excavation and leveling work revealing about 1 hectare of clay resources.
This volume of clay has not been approved for extraction by the authorities, leading to the incomplete synchronization of the project's drainage system. Therefore, during heavy rains, this drainage system is ineffective as the catch basins do not collect all the surface water, causing a large amount of water to overflow onto the road surface.
Moreover, according to the approved construction drawing design, the entire drainage system with a dimension of 1m x 1m has been calculated to ensure water drainage connected to the drainage system. However, the current state of Đội Cấn road has smaller drainage pipes with a winding flow. Additionally, the downstream of this drainage line is encroached upon by some households, narrowing the flow, and sediment has not been dredged for a long time, leading to inadequate downstream drainage capacity causing localized flooding in the area.
As an immediate solution, the board and related units continue to take preventive measures before heavy rains occur, such as temporarily excavating some upstream positions of the project and placing sandbags around the manhole mouths at the downstream positions adjacent to Đội Cấn road, and dredging to clear the flow.
To ensure a definitive resolution of the flooding situation, Mr. Lưu Ngọc Tuấn - Deputy Director of the Project Management Board of Hạ Long City - stated: “The board is coordinating to gather related documents as guided to send to the Quảng Ninh Department of Natural Resources and Environment to complete the procedures for clay extraction, expected to be completed before August 31, 2024. After clearing this clay volume from the project, the board will quickly complete the project. The board will also soon complete the related legal procedures to organize the construction and completion of the additional drainage system through Đội Cấn road.”
