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Vietnam's HCM City sinks at alarming rate: local research

Xinhua, April 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

Ground depression in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City is taking place at an alarming rate, local media reported on Tuesday.

Many areas in the eight districts of the city, including Binh Chanh, Binh Tan, Thu Duc, Nha Be, No.8, No.7, No.2 and No.12, are sinking by 5-10 mm a year, Tuoi Tre (Youth) daily quoted research results announced by the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology as reporting.

After comparing statistics over 25 years, the city has so far sunken by some 0.4 meters, said associate professor Le Van Trung at the university.

If no due attention is paid to the depression issue, the sinking areas will face drastic depression, and some areas will be submerged in seawater, he warned.

Key reasons for the ground depression in Ho Chi Minh City include over-exploitation of underground water, rapid urbanization and effervescent transport activities.

In low-lying zones, depression plus sea level rise (by an average of 3 mm a year due to climate change) will expand the existing inundated areas and create new ones.

In coastal areas, the over-exploitation of underground water causes saltwater intrusion which negatively affects growth of plants and trees in particular and sustainable agricultural development in general.

Parts of the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam are also sinking, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Endit