In early February 2025, at the Headquarters of the City People's Committee, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh chaired a meeting to listen to a report on the plan to supplement water in the To Lich River to improve the environment.
Regarding the plan to clean up To Lich River, the Chairman of the City People's Committee assigned the Department of Construction to preside over and coordinate with Hanoi Drainage One Member Co., Ltd. to immediately carry out the overall dredging of To Lich River, basically to be completed in August 2025.
According to Lao Dong on February 24, dozens of workers of Hanoi Drainage Company Limited are dredging and sucking mud under the To Lich River (the Hoang Quoc Viet - Buoi intersection area).
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Cuong - an environmental worker - said that the sludge will be dredged by an excavator, then the workers will classify it. The loose mud is transferred to a specialized vehicle via pipes. Solid objects and large waste that cannot be sucked through pipes will be classified separately, brought ashore, waiting for vehicles to transport them for destruction.
" Morning shifts will start from 8:30 to 15:00. The evening shift will start from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. the next morning. On average, a day shift will dredge about 180 tons of sludge. Up to now, 300m of the upstream of To Lich River has been constructed" - Mr. Cuong said.
Speaking with Lao Dong, Mr. Bui Ngoc Uyen - Deputy Head of External Affairs and Communications Department, Hanoi Drainage Company Limited said that the company is using 4 mechanical dredging lines with about 17 closed logs to transport sludge in the To Lich River area.
"Currently, we are deploying 2 dredging shifts per day - 1 day shift and 1 night shift with a number of about 40 people/shift (including commanders and technicians)" - Mr. Uyen said.
According to Mr. Uyen, maintaining dredging of the main drainage axis serves the drainage work in the 2025 rainy season and cleaning the river landscape environment.
The dredging of the To Lich River is considered a warm-up step before using water from the Red River and the water from West Lake to supplement the To Lich River.
Regarding the plan to add water to To Lich River to improve the environment, in the immediate period, the Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee assigned the People's Committee of Tay Ho District to preside over and coordinate with the Department of Construction and the city's departments and branches to study and accept the opinions of central ministries and branches on adding water to the Red River to To Lich River, urgently proposing a plan to use water from the Red River and the water after treatment of the West Lake wastewater treatment plant to supplement water to the West Lake (through the intermediate lake, Sen Lake) to ensure that it does not affect the ecosystem of the West Lake.
Assign the Department of Construction to preside over research and propose a plan to collect water from West Lake to supplement the To Lich River if necessary to keep the water level of To Lich River through the regulating gate of West A Lake - Cong Do - Muong Thuy Khue to be completed in August 2025.
