Saigon canal cleaned of rubbish blocking water flow

Nearly 100 tons of garbage and water hyacinth have been removed from a 500-meter section of the Nuoc Den (black water) Canal in HCMC’s Binh Tan District.

Nuoc Den Canal in Binh Tan District is cleaned of garbage on May 16, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van

Sanitary workers from Binh Hung Hoa Ward, where the section runs, and volunteers worked for three days before completing the task on Thursday afternoon.

They removed domestic solid waste and plastic bottles and bags besides the weed.

For over six months the section of the canal, where it intersects with the Tham Luong Canal, had been clogged and foul-smelling, affecting the lives of local people.

“At night there are lots of flies, mosquitoes and rats, and people living nearby usually keep their doors shut,” one of the locals, Vu Thi Hoa, had said earlier this week before the trash was removed.

Garbage fills up Nuoc Den Canal in HCMC in early May, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van

Nuoc Den is more than two kilometers in length, with a 1.4-km open section and the rest running through box culverts.

As recently as in 2022 the open section of the canal was renovated along with road widening and landscape improvements at a cost of VND629 billion (US$27.7 million), giving it a complete facelift.

According to local authorities, the section was blocked to carry out upgrades to the Tham Luong – Ben Cat – Nuoc Len Canal, resulting in the garbage collection.

Nguyen Phuoc Binh, chairman of the Binh Hung Hoa Ward People’s Committee, said the city’s permission for local authorities to manage the canal is awaited.

“The ward will install surveillance cameras and enhance fines for those who dump trash into the canal.”