Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Summer has comealong with heavy downpour, and with each bout of torrential rain parts of thecity remain flooded for hours.

This has been a problem that Hanoi’sleading officials have been working to solve for years, and as yet have failedto find a successful solution for.

A downpour which brings around 50 to 100mmof water during a two hour period will likely cause flooding in 15 areas,according to the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Hanoi Sewage and Drainage Companyrecently came up with the idea of building an underground pool at thecrossroads of Duong Thanh and Hang Da streets, in order to prevent flooding.

The proposed underground pool which hasbeen submitted to the municipal People’s Committee for feedback would be ableto store 2,000 cubic metres of water.

Vo Tien Hung, the company’s director, saidthat the pool will apply cross-wave technology from Japan, which usespolypropylene – a kind of thermoplastic polymer to soak up water. The companyis asking Japan to work with polymer manufacturing companies to usedomestically-manufactured materials to reduce costs.

He said that the environmentally-friendlytechnology is easy to install and construct. It is suitable for cities withlimited land and funding such as Hanoi and HCM City.

Bui Ngoc Uyen, deputy head of the company’sexternal affairs and communication division, told Lao Dong (Labour) newspaperthat if the proposal gets approval from local authorities, the underground poolwill be a pilot anti-flooding solution for the Old Quarter area.

The water stored in the pool will then beused for firefighting, watering plants or cleaning roads, he said.

A leading official of the city’sConstruction Department told the newspaper that the pool, alongside pumpingstations, will help reduce floods in the area.

The department will first study theproposal to assess whether it is feasible or not, he said.       

However, Professor Vu Trong Hong, former DeputyMinister of Agriculture and Rural Development, is in doubt over the pool’scapacity.

“A 2,000 cubic metre capacity is relativelysmall and can only partly reduce flooding in narrow areas during light rain. Ifthe rain is heavier and the pool is full, where will the water flow to?” hesaid.

Hong said that the foundation of the streetin which the underground pool will be located must be firm; otherwise it willsink and affect the structure on the ground potentially causing a sinkhole.

There has to be a structure stopping waterfrom flowing into the pool when it’s full. Otherwise, the foundations willbecome weak, he said.

“The best way, I think, is to connect it tolakes around the city, taking advantage of their storing capacity. Connectingpipes should be built to link lakes. For example, Thien Quang and Hoan Kiem lakescould easily be connected together. The water can then be pumped to West Lakeor pour into the Hong (Red) River,” he said.

The anti-flood projects must be constructedbefore the rainy season comes; so they cannot be built now, he added.

Tran Huy Anh, an architect of the HanoiArchitects’ Association, said that the pools should be constructed in theoutskirts of the city, not in the Old Quarter, as the construction would causechaos to local residents.

He thinks the proposal will be wasteful andnot address the roots of the problem.

The idea of building an anti-floodunderground pool has already been implemented in Ho Chi Minh City.

Earlier an underground pool with a capacityof more than 100 cubic metres of water was constructed on a pilot basis in ThuDuc district.-VNS/VNA