Flood alert: Agency advocates dredging of rivers, construction of artificial lakes

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has urged the Federal Government to dredge more rivers and construct artificial lakes within the flood-prone areas as one of the major measures to mitigate flood.

The NIHSA Director-General, Mr Moses Beckley, gave the advice in Abuja on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
NAN recalls that NIHSA had recently alerted the country during the presentation of its 2015

“Annual Flood Outlook’’ in Abuja that 12 states might experience high flood.
Beckley said, besides constructions of dams across the country, rivers in Nigeria could also serve as instruments to check the excess of water during the rainy period in order to prevent flood.
He explained that most of the rivers in the country that were meant to serve as storage for excess water from the hinterland were covered with sand, thereby reducing their storage capacity.

“There are natural reservoirs like rivers, artificial lakes that should house this water but unfortunately, there is so much sedimentation that the storage capacity of the rivers have reduced.
“Before now, some of our rivers were deep enough, but today because of the sand washing from the environment into these rivers; it has caused the rivers to silt.

“Dredging these rivers at various points in the country will go a long way to assist in storing the excess water from the rain.’’
The director-general, however, said that such initiatives, especially the artificial lakes, could also serve as water reservoir for farming activities during dry season farming.
In response to the recent alert by Cameroonian authorities that water would be released from theLagdo dam, Beckley urged Nigerians not to panic over the development.

He advised the residents of flood-prone areas to vacate the sites, adding that indiscriminate dumping of refuse and poor drainage systems were also responsible for flooding.
The director-general gave assurance that the relevant authorities were in a good position to handle the situation.

“We are working in partnership with other stakeholders to salvage the situation.
“NIHSA was established to provide security for life and property against water-related hazards such as flood and drought through forecasting and related activities.

“I am assuring you that this year will not be like 2012 when information for the release of Lagdo dam was not given on time,’’ Beckley said. (NAN)