HCMC – The HCMC government has assigned its Department of Natural Resources and Environment to work with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to develop solutions to the worsening subsidence in the city.
The requirement was made following a proposal from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the local media reported.
The JICA office in Vietnam had earlier expressed its willingness to join hands with the HCMC government to develop a project to deal with the subsidence in HCMC. The office had sent the city a draft plan based on its experience in Japan’s Tokyo, Indonesia’s Jakarta and Thailand’s Bangkok.
Therefore, the HCMC government has assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to coordinate with the relevant departments and agencies to provide necessary information to JICA to determine the city’s subsidence status, learn about its cause and work out solutions.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, HCMC recorded a high subsidence speed, at an average of four centimeters per year, even six-seven centimeters in some areas. A survey conducted in 2019 by the Department of Water Resources Management in 24 locations in HCMC showed that An Lac Ward in Binh Tan District sunk the most, by 81 centimeters, from 2009 to 2019.
Many experts and scientists attributed the situation to the overexploitation of underground water, in addition to the fast urban and traffic development as well as the city’s weak geological structure.
Therefore, the city should continue conducting comprehensive and detailed studies in each area to work out appropriate response plans.
