$13.4 mln anti-flood project proposed for Can Tho

According to the investor, Can Tho ODA Project Management Board, the project will be carried out from now until mid-2024 to renovate the sewage system with a total length of 12,000 meters along 32 routes in Can Tho City’s Ninh Kieu District, and build two pumping stations with a total capacity of 3.5 cubic meters per second.

This project is a package that belongs to a master plan to develop Can Tho’s infrastructure and strengthen the city’s ability to respond to climate change that cost VND9.2 trillion, including loans from the World Bank, non-refundable aid from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and counterpart Vietnamese capital.

The plan has been carried out since 2016 to protect an area of 2,700 hectares in Ninh Kieu and Binh Thuy districts of Can Tho, which are home to more than 420,000 people.

Can Tho covers 1,140 square kilometers, with a population of 1.2 million.

For long, more than half the city has suffered from flooding during heavy rains and high tides, with many downtown streets submerged under 0.2-0.6 meters of water.

The Research Institute for Climate Change under Can Tho University has stated that Can Tho is subsiding by two to three centimeters a year. Among the reasons are the overexploitation of groundwater and rapid urbanization.