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Many drainage and flood-control projects in Hanoi are being accelerated, covering pumping stations, detention basins and connecting conduits. The city expects that completing the infrastructure in a coordinated manner will improve drainage capacity and reduce local flooding.
Hanoi recently held a working session to review progress on flood-prevention works and other major traffic infrastructure projects. At the meeting, the city updated investment progress for the drainage system across Hanoi.
Nguyen Phi Thuong, Director of Hanoi’s Department of Construction, said the city’s drainage system has reached only about 20% of the master plan. Among four major basins—left Day (Tả Đáy), right Day (Hữu Đáy), the To Lich River basin, and the Bac River (Bắc sông Hồng)—the To Lich basin (77 km2) has relatively complete investment, while the others remain in early stages and still lack uniformity in sewer lines, pumping stations and detention basins.
The city has 48 main pumping stations with a total capacity of 1,325 m3/s, but only 9 large stations are operational. Six are under investment, while the remaining stations are smaller items.
For detention basins, the master plan requires 5,050 hectares, but only 1,010 hectares have been implemented, or about 19%.
At the end of 2024, storms brought rainfall exceeding design capacity, resulting in 220 flooding points. Of these, 91 points were managed by the city and 119 points were managed by communes and wards.
In line with directives from the central government and the Hanoi Party Committee, the city issued a list of 10 urgent anti-flood projects. The Center for Agricultural Infrastructure Engineering is the investor for five pumping stations, detention basins and two system-level projects.
The Phú Phương Channel renovation project is designed to provide urban drainage relief for Bắc Từ Liêm, replenish water for the To Lich River, and support irrigation for about 300 hectares of agricultural land.
The Yen Lữu pumping station is being deployed to boost drainage from the Nu River to the To Lich River, via the Yen Sở pumping station to the Red River.
In parallel, the city’s Center for Technical Infrastructure is adding eight items to connect the underground system and pumping stations from Phú Thượng through Hoàng Quốc Việt, supporting drainage in Ecopark, Ciputra and Bắc Từ Liêm. The Phú Thượng pumping station, with a capacity of 9 m3/s, is required to be completed in 2026 to increase drainage capacity.
In the To Lich River basin, an additional 52 flood points occurred. The city is installing pumps for 12 detention basins, adding 800,000 m3 of storage capacity. Together with six publicly funded detention basins, total additional storage capacity is about 1.4 million m3.
By 30 April 2026, all detention basins will be dredged and equipped with pumping stations to proactively lower water levels before rainfall. Several local flood points, including the Tran Duy Hung underpass and Long Bien/Thang Long Avenue, have also been supplemented with regulating pumping stations.
Separately, the city issued three emergency orders: Chêm Lake (9 ha), Lien Mac Lake (22 ha), and the installation of a city-wide flood-warning sensor system. Total regulated storage capacity reaches 4.8 million m3.
The city expects the measures to increase drainage capacity by more than 20% and address more than 60% of flood points if rainfall similar to 2024 occurs.
A key component is the Dan Hoai Canal. Because all drainage discharges into the Nu River, maintaining the Nu River water level at +4.5 meters is a prerequisite.
The Dan Hoai Canal will convey water to the Yen Nghia pumping station with a capacity of 120 m3/s, maximizing the pumping stations’ effectiveness and the two Yen Nghia detention basins (Yen Nghia 1 and Yen Nghia 2).
During the session, Hanoi’s Acting Chairman Duong Duc Tuan urged timely completion of urgent orders and called for reviewing and supplementing remaining items to ensure the overall system’s effectiveness and to resolve bottlenecks delaying progress.
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