Mitigating Impact Of Flood

Lagos State is known to be a coastal city where the sea level rises during the rainy season. This, consequently, leads to massive flooding especially in areas that are flood-prone. But this could be averted if residents of such areas discard habits that cause flooding now that the rains are here.

With a population estimated at about 20 million, the state is over-populated and this causes a severe strain on infrastructure, especially waste managment facilities. This is compounded by some residents’ habit of emptying their wastes into drainage channels whenever it is raining. When this happens, the wastes impede the flow of water in the drains, thus resulting in flooding that destroys life and property. It also costs the government huge resources to clear the clogged drainage channels as a result of this bad habit.

In the past, houses were submerged in flood-prone areas such as Agility, Ajegunle communities in Mile 12, Aboru, among several others. Lives were also lost to the flood.

Now that the rains are here again, there is need for Lagosians to be cautious to avert flood. They should not dump refuse in drainage channels but should rather properly bag their wastes and patronise the PSP operators. They should clear the gutters in their premises and surroundings regularly throughout this rainy season to mitigate the impact of flooding.

The government should ensure that residents who erect structures on drainage channels are brought to book and the structures demolished.

We advise government to carry out sensitisation campaign to educate residents to avoid acts that could lead to flooding. Radio and TV jingles could be deployed in this regard. Mitigating the impact of flooding should be a concerted effort of the government and residents of the state to avert loss of life and property.