Commuters are seriously jeopardized by manholes with missing or deteriorated covers in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring Binh Duong Province.

On Road D39 in the Nam Long residential area in Thu Duc City, a district-level unit in Ho Chi Minh City, one particular large manhole has no cover and the concrete surrounding it appears to be on the verge of collapse.

T., a local, said the area typically floods with 30-40 centimeters of rainwater during storms, obscuring the manholes and creating a hazard for children who venture out in the rain.  

On Nguyen Thi Dinh Street, also in Thu Duc, manholes measuring up to 30 cm x 60 cm remain uncovered at the moment. 

The same issue plagues Nguyen Thanh Son Street in Thu Duc.

Nearby, manholes on Truong Van Bang, Bat Nan, Nguyen Quang Bat, and Le Huu Kieu Streets have degraded and are in serious need of repair.

The same situation can be seen on roads Nos. 1 and 2 in the Tan Dong Hiep A Industrial Park, routes in the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City area, Kinh Noi Street, and Ba Muoi Thang Tu Street in Di An City, Binh Duong Province, which is just outside Ho Chi Minh City.

In the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City township, several manholes on the sidewalks of Nguyen Du Street have had their covers stolen, giving rise to a peril for the many students and local residents who frequent the area.

On Ba Muoi Thang Tu Street, which passes through Dong An Polytechnic College in Binh Duong, one sewer is covered by concrete slabs even though those slabs have cracked to form one-meter-wide holes.  

Locals said the slabs have been broken for over a year.

For locals, the situation poses more than just a danger outdoors. As the manholes are not properly covered, storms cause serious backflow which leads to water leaving the sewer and flowing into their homes.

T.L., a student of Dong An Polytechnic College, said that she often avoids walking on Ba Muoi Thang Tu Street in the rain for fear that she might fall into an uncovered manhole.

Inside the Tan Dong Hiep A Industrial Park, a flood hotspot in Di An City, many manholes have no openings.

There have been many cases where people died after being swept into sewers by rainwater.

On October 16, 2016, an eight-year-old boy was caught in a sewer on Road No. 4 in the administrative center in Di An during a heavy rainstorm. His body was discovered two days later in a grass field over three kilometers from the sewer.

In September 2014, a boy in Tan Uyen City and another in Thuan An City, Binh Duong Province also lost their lives after being swept into sewers.

Most recently, on June 14 this year, rainwater swept a 53-year-old woman in Tan Uyen City into a canal. Her body was found in a field over one kilometer from the canal.

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