Lagos Moves To Prevent Flood

The Lagos State government has adopted a three-tier measure to ensure all year round drainage maintenance across the state to check flooding.

Speaking during the inspection of facilities in Agege, Ifako Ijaiye and Ikeja during the week, the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello said: “Lagosians should watch out for cleaning of drains before, during and after the rain.

“The cleaning will involve immediate carting away of the silt as we are already doing in places like College Road in Ifako-Ijaiye, Somolu, Kosofe, and Ikeja.”

The commissioner revealed that the Elere collector drain in Agege was being upgraded to accommodate the flow of water that usually discharged on old Abeokuta Express Road, adding that the 1.5 by 1.5 concrete channel would take water from Elere to Afa Nla.

He noted that Elere area was seriously affected during 10 July, 2011 flood, which necessitated Governor Babatunde Fashola’s visit and subsequent demolition of obstructing structures as well as payment of compensation to affected tenants.

Bello said work was progressing on the new Elere collector drain which he said was an improvement on the existing one.

According to him, “We have evacuated between Odejobi Street and the rail line, a length of about 300 metres. However, we are still having challenges with the railway and the old Abeokuta Road which is a federal road.”

The commissioner appealed to Lagosians to desist from dumping refuse into the drains to avoid blockage which is the primary cause of flooding.

However, Bello said the government would need the cooperation of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, to enable it complete the ongoing expansion of drainage channels in the state.

He listed two major spots in the inspected areas where the rail line is posing a hurdle to the drainage project to include the Elere collector drains and Shogunle-Oshodi system channels.

According to him, the government had opened up consultations with the NRC management, saying that the government would do all it could to ensure that the project was completed on time.

“We are always in contact with the railway authority, the deputy commissioner of police in charge of rail way has been assisting us on this. Particularly affected is our workforce as most of the time, our workers are arrested while they are working on the drains along the rail line,” he said.

Bello stated that beyond the assistance from the police, the cooperation of the railway authority is required, adding that “parts of the expansion and the culvert we want to cross over, need their approval and in some cases we need their engineers to protect the rail line and guide us well.”

On whether he was sure the government would guarantee a flood-free Lagos, Bello said, “I cannot say there won’t be flooding. Even in developed society they still expect flooding due to climate change and if people with developed technology are experiencing flooding, who are we to say that there won’t be flood; but what we are doing is to open up the channels and ensure that we reduce the incidence of flood during raining season.

“This government wants to prepare for the worst so that if heavy rain comes we are ready to deal with it. In our own case, we want to ensure that the drains are in order which was exactly what we did last year,” he said.

Officials of the Ministry of Environment last Thursday inspected ongoing drainage projects involving massive cleaning and upgrading of drainage channels across the state.