Seoul City and Districts Focus on Cleaning Rainwater Drains to Prevent Flood Damage

Seoul City Cleans Around Storm Drains in Flood-Prone Areas to Prepare for Heavy Rainfall

Gwanak-gu, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Yangcheon-gu, and others focus on cleaning storm drains ahead of the summer monsoon season... Support for purchasing storm drain cleaning equipment through Seoul City's special grants

Seoul City is intensively cleaning around storm drains in flood-prone areas to prepare for this summer's heavy rainfall.

Districts such as Gangnam, Seocho, Gwanak, Dongjak, and Yeongdeungpo experienced flooding damage last year because storm drains were clogged with trash during heavy rain, preventing proper drainage.

Seoul City Encourages Cleaning of 557,000 Storm Drains and Supports Equipment Purchase with Special Grants

Especially in flood-vulnerable areas, cigarette butts and trash accumulated around storm drains and alleyways can block the drains during heavy rain, reducing their drainage function.

Currently, there are about 557,000 storm drains in Seoul. Environmental officers will first clean around the storm drains and conduct focused inspections around flood-prone areas when heavy rain occurs.

Additionally, cleaning around storm drains in narrow alleyways and low-lying areas will be carried out through youth and resident voluntary cleaning groups as well as disaster prevention volunteer activities organized by the Seoul Volunteer Center.

Seoul's districts will deploy cleaning personnel and collection vehicles according to emergency levels to promptly collect and dispose of flood waste. Temporary transfer stations will be added in flood-affected areas in addition to the existing 34 transfer stations.

The city plans to support districts with a budget of 4.45 billion KRW for purchasing cleaning equipment and supplies to prepare for flood occurrences.

Lee In-geun, Head of Seoul City's Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, "As abnormal weather is expected to bring heavy rain this summer, we will implement more thorough and flawless cleaning measures. We will effectively clean around storm drains and alleyways before heavy rain and swiftly activate waste disposal measures in case of flooding to minimize inconvenience to citizens."

Park Jun-hee, the mayor of Gwanak-gu, is cleaning rainwater drains with residents on the 15th.

Seoul Districts Including Gwanak, Yeongdeungpo, and Yangcheon Focus on Storm Drain Cleaning

On the 15th, Gwanak-gu conducted joint public-private storm drain maintenance and cleaning linked with the monthly third Thursday resident voluntary cleaning day.

From 7:30 a.m., about 1,000 members of professional and voluntary cleaning groups and approximately 1,500 Gwanak-gu employees participated across all 21 neighborhoods to remove sediment, cigarette butts, and other debris from storm drains and conduct surrounding area cleaning.

Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, visited Miseong-dong, Jowon-dong, and Sinsa-dong sequentially to clean storm drains with residents and inspect flood-prone areas and flood prevention facility installation status.

The district will strengthen patrols, inspections, illegal cover removals, and cleaning of areas where trash frequently accumulates in storm drains during the summer monsoon season.

On the 10th, Yeongdeungpo-gu Mayor Choi Ho-kwon participated in storm drain cleaning volunteer work in the Daerim 1-dong area to prepare for the monsoon season on 'Volunteer Day.'

'Volunteer Day' is held on the first Saturday of every month, when Yeongdeungpo-gu officials and volunteers conduct joint public-private volunteer activities.

Mayor Choi inspected the inside of storm drains and thoroughly cleaned fallen leaves and cigarette butts. He also posted stickers prohibiting illegal cigarette butt disposal next to the storm drains.

Choi Ho-gwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo District, was sweating while cleaning the rainwater drain on the 10th.

Yeongdeungpo-gu Mayor Choi Ho-kwon said, "We will do our best to prevent flooding damage in summer by focusing on managing storm drains and sewer pipes and creating a pleasant residential environment," adding, "I experienced the excellent effectiveness of the eco-friendly street sweeper in cleaning cigarette butts inside storm drains."

Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Lee Gi-jae) also mobilized volunteers to clean storm drains on the 14th.

Seoul City is providing special grants to districts for purchasing equipment for cleaning storm drains and other areas.

In particular, the eco-friendly street sweeper 'Glutton' has proven effective in sucking up cigarette butts and fallen leaves inside storm drains. As a result, 22 districts, including Gangseo-gu which applied to purchase nine units, are acquiring these cleaning machines.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.