The heavy rain on the morning of May 10 was a clear demonstration of this situation. Many roads around Thu Duc market such as Le Van Minh, Kha Van Can, Duong Van Cam... were deeply flooded. At some points, the rainwater could not drain in time, causing the sewer covers to splashed due to too much pressure.
Notably, the Thu Duc market area has been invested in a drainage system worth more than 248 billion VND and inaugurated for more than a year.
Similarly, To Ngoc Van Street - near the railway line is also seriously flooded, despite only completing a flood prevention project worth more than 154 billion VND.
In the area of Provincial Road 43, near the Go Dua overpass (the border between Tam Binh and Binh Chieu wards), water overflowed into people's houses in Alley 789, many places were flooded up to half of their houses, causing great property damage.
So why has Thu Duc City with high terrain become a new "flooded center"?
According to the People's Committee of Thu Duc City, Thu Duc market area is located in the transition area from the Northeast hills (adjacent to Binh Duong) to the Southwest along the Saigon River. The terrain here has changed quite strongly, from a height of 30 m to only 0.5 m, creating a lowland area like a basin. This area receives all the water from basins of more than 430 hectares, causing overload for local drainage systems.
Urban expert Dr. Vo Kim Cuong - former Deputy Chief Architect of Ho Chi Minh City commented: "The drainage system in Ho Chi Minh City in general and Thu Duc in particular is too outdated but has not been invested in accordingly. The concrete process is taking place quickly, natural soil is getting less and less, reducing water absorption. Meanwhile, the overall plan to prevent flooding is being implemented too slowly".
Also according to the People's Committee of Thu Duc City, the Vo Van Ngan road drainage project worth 248 billion VND only solves drainage for an area of about 87 hectares - equivalent to 20% of the Thu Duc market basin area.
Surrounding sewers such as Duong Van Cam, Dang Thi Ranh, Kha Van Can, Ho Van Tu have not yet been invested in synchronously, leading to a situation of "where is done - where is not done", making the entire area easily flooded when there is heavy rain.
Last April, Thu Duc City started a project to build a new Rach Cau Ngang culvert to solve the flow bottleneck in the existing bridge area, improving drainage capacity for Thu Duc Market and the East of Ho Chi Minh City.
In the long term, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Board has proposed a flood risk management project in Thu Duc, with a total cost of about 430 million USD, divided into three components.
Component 1 (200 million USD), protect the Go Dua core area from flooding with a system of dykes, culverts, pumping stations, regulating lakes, rainwater drainage and set up a flood warning system integrated with smart technology.
Component 2 (150 million USD), improving the drainage system, collecting and treating wastewater for Go Dua; building a wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 130,000 m3/day.
Component 3 (80 million USD), serving site clearance, consulting, management and tax.
The project is proposed to be implemented in the period of 20262030. The proposed capital source for the World Bank to borrow 350 million USD for the first two components, the rest is domestic counterpart capital.
When completed, the project is expected to help reduce flooding in the core area of Thu Duc City, improve the living environment, bring direct benefits to about 360,000 people in Go Dua area and indirectly to about 1.5 million people in Thu Duc City.
