Posted on August 15, 2015
The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has urged the
The NIHSA Director-General, Mr Moses Beckley, gave the advice in
NAN recalls that NIHSA had recently alerted the country during the presentation of its 2015
“Annual 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.
“
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 the
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)
