Can Tho proposes anti-flooding and anti-erosion project with capital of over 4,515 billion VND

The project to prevent flooding, prevent landslides, enhance climate change adaptation, and combine urban beautification of Can Tho City has a total estimated investment of more than 4,515 billion VND; implemented in Ninh Kieu and Binh Thuy districts.

On June 13, a delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) had a working session with leaders of Can Tho City on the project to prevent flooding, prevent landslides, enhance the ability to adapt to climate change, and combine urban beautification of Can Tho City.

Can Tho City Party Secretary Nguyen Van Hieu (right) and Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep chaired the meeting.

Regarding the project proposal, Mr. Nguyen Van Su, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Can Tho City, said that the project to prevent flooding, prevent landslides, enhance the ability to adapt to climate change, and combine urban beautification of Can Tho City has a total estimated investment of more than 4,515 billion VND, supported by the central budget; implemented in Ninh Kieu and Binh Thuy districts, with an expected implementation period from 2024-2030.

The project covers an area of about 2,770 hectares to prevent flooding in the inner city, including a number of main items such as: Construction of embankment lines with a total length of nearly 9,000 m; construction of 1 culvert combined with a boat lock and pumping station, 11 control culverts, 8 box culverts to prevent tides; upgrading roads behind the embankment...

According to the People's Committee of Can Tho City, the investment in the project is very necessary and urgent, aiming to prevent flooding in the inner city, develop sustainable urban areas, enhance urban adaptability; reduce damage caused by flooding and landslides in the city center; protect the environment, prevent natural disasters and adapt to climate change; combine urban beautification...

Project investment can take advantage of existing infrastructure in the area and projects that have been and are being invested in to create an outer area, helping to reduce investment costs, reduce compensation costs, and greatly support resettlement...

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep surveyed the construction site of Binh Thuy boat lock, Binh Thuy district, Can Tho city.

Previously, implementing the Can Tho City Development Project and enhancing urban resilience, the city built projects such as Can Tho River embankment, Cai Son River embankment, Muong Khai canal, Cai Khe and Hang Bang boat locks, tide-prevention sluices and pumping stations, etc., controlling flooding for over 2,657 hectares of core areas of Ninh Kieu and Binh Thuy districts.

The project is currently being completed and put into operation on June 30 this year. Previously, during the high tide at the end of October 2023, the project tested sluices, boat locks, etc. and clearly demonstrated its effectiveness in preventing flooding in the inner city.

However, the flood control area of 2,657 hectares mentioned above only reaches nearly 15% of the total area of more than 17,700 hectares covering the central area of the city, according to the "Water Resources Planning for Flood Prevention in Can Tho City" approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2012. Currently, there are still many areas in the area that are deeply flooded during floods, high tides and rain, causing great impacts and obstacles to many economic and social activities of the city.

Mr. Nguyen Nghia Hung, Deputy Director of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, said that in order to reduce widespread flooding in Can Tho City and combine dry season water pumping for Kien Giang and Hau Giang regions, it is necessary to invest in building sluice gates to control the head of the main canals connecting to the Hau River in order of priority.

The calculation process shows that if tidal control sluices are built along the Hau River and Can Tho River (Cai Son sluice), it will help reduce flooding caused by high tides and floods for the approved planning area (17,700 ha). If flooding caused by rain is to be completely resolved, it is necessary to complete the embankment along the Can Tho River and the sluices on the route along with the rain pumping station and drainage infrastructure...

According to Can Tho City Party Secretary Nguyen Van Hieu, project investment is very urgent.

According to Secretary of the Can Tho City Party Committee Nguyen Van Hieu, Can Tho is a centrally-governed city but is facing huge difficulties, including flooding, landslides, climate change, etc. Every time he meets with voters, he receives their attention and recommendations, while the city's budget is in difficulty.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu, the investment in the project is very urgent, not only serving Can Tho but also contributing to promoting its role as the center of the region, ensuring traffic connection, and having an important impact on the overall socio-economic development of the city and the region.

The Secretary of the Can Tho City Party Committee also noted that this is a multi-purpose project, aiming at multiple goals. Specifically, in addition to flood prevention, there is also landslide prevention, climate change adaptation, urban beautification, rearrangement of houses along rivers and canals, etc. "This is only the initial research, the city is most concerned about capital, the project still needs to continue to be researched, reviewed, and specified, etc. to be highly realistic", said the Secretary of the Can Tho City Party Committee.

At the meeting, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep said that after this meeting, the Ministry's specialized units will continue to provide comments so that the Ministry can respond in writing to Can Tho and at the same time report to the Prime Minister. Through this project, the project will advise on the Mekong Delta perspective for other projects.

According to the Deputy Minister, Can Tho's proposal is completely reasonable, in line with the current situation and regulations. The project is fully legal for implementation, allowing research to be conducted not only to prevent flooding but also to prevent landslides, reorganize the population, contribute to socio-economic development, and is a comprehensive plan.

However, the Deputy Minister also noted that the project is only in its initial stages of research and needs to be detailed, concretized, and adjusted to be more sustainable and economical. The project’s protection area of 2,700 hectares is a bit small and needs to be studied more extensively. There is no regret in investing in the projects…

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development supports Can Tho in this project. The city needs to study further expansion and apply technical solutions to reduce costs, especially site clearance. The principle of flood prevention is that the larger the affected area, the cheaper the investment cost, although expansion cannot be absolutely guaranteed,” Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep emphasized.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/can-tho-de-xuat-du-an-chong-ngap-chong-sat-lo-von-hon-4515-ty-dong-d217628.html