Authorities in Hanoi are pushing for the resumption of plans to develop several locations along the Hong (Red) River, including the building of a dike road system and developing ecological urban projects.

Addressing a working session with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Wednesday, Hanoi’s Party chief Vuong Dinh Hue asked for the ministry’s collaboration on drawing up the plans before submitting them to the prime minister for approval.

According to Hue, Hanoi has wasted resources along the Red River’s banks for years due to a lack of planning, resulting in an absence of investor enthusiasm for the projects.  

“Vast areas along the riverbank in Dan Phuong and Hoai Duc [Districts] have been left unused, all waiting for planning,” said Hue.

In response to Hue, Hanoi chairman Nguyen Duc Chung said that the city’s authorities had collaborated with the Institute of Water Resources Planning in 2018 on developing a flood diversion system along the Red River and reached a consensus on building a dike road system in the area.

The dike road was planned to run from Long Bien Bridge to Vinh Tuy Bridge and include overpasses at narrow and high sections, Chung said.

Local authorities had hoped the plan, once approved, would help to move forward a series of ecological urban projects that would have created jobs for about 900,000 residents along the river.

The flood diversion project, however, was withdrawn from the agenda of the municipal People’s Council meeting at the end of 2018.

Tran Quang Hoai, general director of the rural development ministry’s General Department of Disaster Prevention and Control, stated that the ministry wants to make improvements to rural areas along the Red River, but in order to do so a flood prevention plan that is compatible to the city’s development planning must be created and assessed.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong elaborated on Hoai’s statement, saying that the ministry will ask a team of experts to collaborate with Hanoi regarding this issue.

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