A huge volume of trash is filling Nuoc Den (Black Water) Canal in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City, emitting a foul smell that has turned the lives of residents in the neighborhood upside down.

Residents in Binh Hung Hoa Ward of the district have lodged many complaints regarding a floating carpet of garbage spanning a 500-meter stretch of the canal.

The polluted waterway has significantly impeded their daily routines and poses risks to public health.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters observed that a section of the canal stretching from Tan Ky Tan Quy Street to Tham Luong Canal in Binh Hung Hoa Ward was blanketed by waste.

The entire surface of the canal section was covered by plastic bags, bottles, styrofoam boxes, and other garbage.

Several animal carcasses and wastewater contributed to polluting the canal.

Pham Vinh, a 53-year-old resident of Binh Hung Hoa Ward, lamented that his family contends with the overpowering stench emanating from the nearby canal on a daily basis.

To escape the unpleasant odor, they often seek refuge in supermarkets or entertainment venues.

“If the pollution there is not resolved, our health will be harmed,” he said.

Trinh Bui, 37, who resides in the ward, recounted that garbage has choked the canal for more than a month.

Some residents have stealthily thrown trash into the waterway, giving rise to a floating carpet of garbage.

An official from the Binh Hung Hoa Ward People’s Committee told Tuoi Tre that a sanitation firm had previously been tasked with cleaning up the canal.

Over the past month, a section of Tham Luong Canal has been upgraded, so the flow of water from Nuoc Den Canal to the former is blocked, leading to a large volume of garbage trapped in the section of Nuoc Den Canal.

The ward will mobilize forces and sanitation workers to remove the rubbish from the canal, while work on the canal upgrade project must be sped up, said the ward’s official.

The Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len upgrade project is slated for completion in late April next year.

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