Tower blocks, wells threaten capital city

The over-use of underground water and the construction of high-rise buildings are likely to cause more structures in Hanoi to collapse, warns the Northern Water Resource Planning and Survey Federation.

On Dec. 1, more than 100 people living in Quoc Oai, west of the city, had to evacuate when the ground around a new household well sank.

Drilling was at 50m when the walls of three nearby houses cracked and the buildings tilted.

“Our research shows the rate of subsidence in Phap Van – about five kilometres south of the city centre – is up to 3cm per year,” said federation chairman Nguyen Van Dan.

The rate in Thanh Cong (Ba Dinh district), Ha Dinh (Thanh Xuan district), Tuong Mai (Hoang Mai district), and Van Dien (Thanh Tri district), was 2cm a year.

The Hanoi Municipal Construction Department estimates that the ground is sinking at 4cm each year in some places.

The Hanoi Science Technology and Construction Economics Institute reports that most of Hanoi ’s water is drawn from underground.

The volume now totals 700,000cu.m each day but the figure is forecast to double by 2020.

Apart from underground supplies exploited by water utilities, the city has about 100,000 private wells.

Source: VNA