FLOOD: Ogun Warns Residents Against Impeding Waterways

Following the flood witnessed in the Panseke-Adigbe road in Abeokuta at the weekend, the Ogun State government has warned residents of the area to shun activities that impede the flow of water.

It noted that but for the quality of work done on the road by the Dapo Abiodun-led administration, the ravaging flood would have sacked all the houses within the vicinity, adding that the bridge constructed by the state government stalled the impact of the flood.

The warning was issued in a statement issued by the state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Ade Akinsanya, on Monday.

According to him, the flow of water was so high but the bridge remained unscathed, and the part of the bridge washed away was as a result of the drainages built near the area, which people had filled with plastic and other wastes.

“Channels of water had been blocked by houses, thus raising the level of the flood. Waterways were blocked but water will always find its level and, definitely, there is no asphalt that water cannot wash away if its volume is heavy.
“People should therefore dispose their wastes carefully and not invite flood. Those who took advantage of the long bamboos by the canal and filled it with the bamboos should be careful,” he said,

The statement added that the state government was already looking at the possibility of providing durable drainage by extending the ongoing construction work on the Panseke-Adigbe road to reach the popular Opako Bridge along Obada road.

This, it said, would put a permanent stop to the perennial destruction of the retaining walls on the busy bridge, due to the lack of proper drainage.

As it noted, the original Panseke-Adigbe road project started but abandoned by the immediate past government was 500-metre short, with the intent to stop the new road around Alowonle area.

It added that extending drainage to the bridge would enhance proper flow and channeling of water, especially during the rains which have currently destroyed the approach to the bridge, even as the bridge itself remains intact.

As at Saturday afternoon, engineers were at the bridge with excavators to put washed-off materials back in place so that the road may become motorable, pending the time when drainage work reaches the site.

While noting that flood is a natural phenomenon due to rapid urbanization impeding waterways, the statement appealed to road users and residents to cooperate with the engineers on site while they carried out their duties in reasonable time.