HCM City canals seriously polluted
More than 2,000 canals around HCM City have been seriously polluted threatening people’s health, reported the Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) newspaper. The pollution of canals in the city has been worsening as large quantities of household and industrial wastewater, as well as rubbish, are being discharged or dumped into canals, according to the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment. For years, residents in Hiep Phu Ward of District 9 have suffered the foul smell from Binh Tho Canal. “Like all people in the area, I have to close my doors and windows day and night to avoid the smell from the canal”, Nguyen Thi Tiem told the newspaper. The canal is about 2km long running through the district and discharging wastewater to the Sai Gon River. According to the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment, there are nine industrial zones and five garment, cloth dyeing, footwear and fertiliser businesses in the district. The wastewater discharged by the businesses was one of the reasons for the pollution.
