Our Reporter
LAGOS State government has said effort was on to free up clogged drains and mop up floodwaters that have taken over many streets and roads across the state.
It urged residents not to panic or resort to panicky measures.
Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tunji Bello, assured the residents that succour will soon come as the state is deploying more flood abatement gangs to major trouble spots to free manholes and some clogged up drains to compliment the major contractors handling the cleaning up of major drains.
He listed some areas that have experienced the palliative measures of the abatement gangs to include Fred Anyiam and Femi Ayantuga Street in Surulere, Car Wash area in Egbe-Idimu, Macgregor Canal at Obalende, Ago Palace Way, Festac Extension and Ipodo in Ikeja.
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He said engineers and top officials have also gone round in the last three months to ascertain the true state of all primary, secondary and tertiary drains and compiled a report which is part of what will serve as a guide to future steps.
He said to make the data so gathered more inclusive, the ministry also released a phone number to the public to send in the picture about the state of the environment in their neighbourhoods and that the response has been very overwhelming.
He appealed to the people to desist from dumping refuse into the drains, adding that de-silting of the drains has been compounded by the activities of residents who have turned many major drainage channels into refuse dumps including tertiary drains.
He warned property owners who have built on setbacks of drainage channels or drainage alignments to remove the structures as they constitute major impediments to the free flow of water into the various drainage channels.
Bello said the ministry in conjunction with other agencies will ensure that the residents do not experience a repeat of the flooding of the roads, streets, and homes brought about by the near-total neglect of the maintenance of the drainage channels in the last three years anymore.
He said the poor state of the drainage system has also affected the road networks despite the continuous rehabilitation of the roads by the State Public Works Bureau.
According to him, massive rehabilitation of the roads will commence immediately the rains subsided.
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