Flooding and urban consciousness

(Baonghean) - Ho Chi Minh City has just experienced the biggest flood in the past 100 years. People immediately concluded the cause: Because it rained too heavily, because the rain combined with high tides, because urban planning and drainage system construction had too many shortcomings... But there is also another cause, which is the poor awareness of people in daily activities such as encroaching on canals and littering.

Phu Dinh wharf area (Ho Chi Minh City) is submerged in water, many vehicles had to move with great difficulty. Photo: Internet

Reading the articles and photos describing the flood, it is truly sad for the situation of the largest, most modern city and the economic locomotive of the whole country. The authorities of Ho Chi Minh City will have to learn a lot of lessons, deal with many consequences after the flood as well as have to find a headache to find solutions to prevent similar situations in the future. But as for the people, can we only blame the government, when they themselves, in their irresponsible lifestyle, have blocked the places that are supposed to let water drain?

The story of Ho Chi Minh City is certainly not unique to this city, but it exists in most large and small cities in the country, including Vinh city - our first class city; the only difference is in its degree.

Although Vinh City has a low population density and a reasonable planning, it has not been able to avoid local flooding when there is heavy rain. The rain in mid-September and the rain on the night of October 14 and 15 also submerged many streets in water, showing the risk of flooding in the city when there is high intensity flooding and problems with the drainage system.

Truong Chinh Street (Vinh City) turned into a sea on the morning of October 15. Waves appeared every time a car passed by, leaving many motorbike and bicycle drivers soaked.

The cause of flooding in a city that is not too populous and has a fairly open planning like Vinh is partly due to the drainage system being incomplete and not keeping up with the speed of urbanization, but an important part is still the awareness of the people in this urban area.

In addition, people's careless littering also unintentionally blocks drainage holes on the roads. Not to mention, because they do not like the foul smell of sewers, some households arbitrarily cover drainage holes near their houses, making it impossible for water to flow into the sewers when it rains heavily. Littering and encroachment on the flow of drainage canals still occurs frequently. Many car washes and restaurants still dump garbage and soil into the drainage pipes, causing sedimentation and blockage of the flow. There are even sections of canals where people secretly dump construction waste, causing great difficulty for the authorities in the process of dredging the canals before the flood season.

Along with the socio-economic development, the pressure on drainage will also increase for Vinh city. The urban management agency is still the main responsible unit for this issue, but if only relying on the authorities, it will be impossible to solve the problem of flooding if people's awareness is not raised along with the speed of urbanization.

Bao Ngan