Expectations for flood prevention projects before the rainy season
Mr. Nguyen Quang Viet (Viet Hung, Hanoi) still remembers vividly the heavy rain at the end of September 2025 that flooded the whole city everywhere, paralyzing traffic. Mr. Viet recounted that day, he and his colleagues attended a meeting in the My Dinh area and were "stuck" until 2 am the next morning before being able to go home.
The whole area was flooded, my car stalled and my clothes were soaked" - Mr. Viet recalled.
That "horrific" memory made Mr. Viet particularly interested when he read information that the city is implementing a series of emergency flood prevention projects before the 2026 rainy season. According to Mr. Viet, the early completion of flood prevention projects will help people feel more secure every time it rains heavily, reduce prolonged traffic jams and limit property damage.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pham Duc Long - a technology driver who regularly travels through the central streets of Hanoi - said that flooding not only causes difficulties for travel but also directly affects the income of workers.
To solve the flooding situation, from the beginning of 2026, Hanoi simultaneously implemented 10 flood control projects under emergency orders, including building new regulating lakes and renovating drainage infrastructure. With a total investment of nearly 5,600 billion VND. The projects are required to be constructed day and night, striving to be completed before the 2026 rainy and storm season, contributing to improving drainage capacity and towards a sustainable urban system.
According to reporters' records, large regulating lakes such as Phu Do, Yen Nghia 1, Yen Nghia 2, Me Tri and Thuy Phuong 2 are being accelerated in construction. Many projects have completed site clearance, achieving high progress in the items of digging lakebed soil, pressing piles and building regulating culverts.
Similarly, the underground regulating tank project at Hang Da market - one of the key projects in the central area - has also been basically completed with 3 pumping teams with a capacity of 900m3/h. When heavy rain occurs, this system will pump water from the tank to the main drainage lines, bringing water to Bay Mau Lake and Set River, thereby quickly reducing flooding for the central area.
In the Ke Ve street area (Dong Ngac ward), which often experiences flooding up to more than 1m deep every time it rains heavily, construction units have completed the installation of a large-sized concrete box culvert system, contributing to clearing the route and increasing drainage capacity for the entire area.
Mr. Bui Duc Vuong - Head of the Dong Thang - Ke Ve Construction Supervision Consulting Team - said that although construction conditions face many difficulties due to cramped ground and complex underground infrastructure, the project has completed the clearance of the wet cross-section, ensuring drainage and drainage capacity.
Accelerate construction progress
Recently, Politburo Member, Secretary of the City Party Committee, Head of the Hanoi National Assembly Delegation Tran Duc Thang has continuously gone to the scene of drainage projects and regulating lakes to promote progress.
Inspecting the Phu Do regulating lake project, Secretary of the City Party Committee Tran Duc Thang directed Tu Liem ward to urgently complete the site clearance of the remaining area at the project before May 15. The investor and construction unit continue to mobilize human resources and vehicles to accelerate the construction progress, ensuring quality and safety, with the goal of completing the project by the end of June 2026.
At the Me Tri - Dong Bong 2 main lake project, Party Secretary Tran Duc Thang requested the investor and construction unit to implement the progress commitment that the lake bed item must be completed before May 10; and the landscape and walking path around the lake must be completed before June 30.
In particular, the Hanoi City Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Hanoi City organized a conference to review work in April, deploy tasks for May 2026 held on May 7, Hanoi City Party Secretary Tran Duc Thang requested the entire political system of the city to continue to rectify working style and manners, promote personal responsibility, especially the head. Especially in the implementation of key projects, urgent projects against flooding and projects according to Resolution No. 258/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly. "Levels and sectors strengthen inspection and supervision, regularly count progress, detect delays that need to be handled immediately, not to accumulate into bottlenecks" - Secretary Tran Duc Thang said.
Notably, after the rain on the night of May 2nd and early morning of May 3rd, there were points where rainfall reached over 80mm, however, some old flooding points did not appear, showing the initial effectiveness of these emergency works. From this, it can be seen that emergency works when put into operation will ensure the right goal of reducing flooding in the city, towards eliminating local flooding points that have appeared for many years. According to calculations by the Department of Construction, the impact on area and points can be reduced by up to 60%" - Mr. Le Van Du - Head of Infrastructure Management and Water Supply and Drainage Department, Department of Construction - said.
