Disasters
THE Anambra State House of Assembly has expressed the need for landlords in erosion-prone areas of the state to construct catchment pits in their neighbourhood to mitigate the impact of flooding.
In a resolution passed on Wednesday, the house urged Gov. Willie Obiano to direct the Ministry of Environment to encourage landlords in the state to adopt the catchment pits as erosion-control measure.
The resolution followed a motion under Matters of Urgent Public Importanc moved by Dr Pete Ibida, representing Njikoka I.
Ibida described Anambra as one of the most erosion-ravaged states in the country.
He regretted that the disaster had wreaked havoc in many communities and cities, killing some children and destroying many homes and farmlands.
He said: “Flood occasioned by heavy rainfall is ravaging our environment and landlords build water channels from their compounds emptying the water into the roads, thereby causing devastation on roads, houses and farmlands.
“Our soil in Anambra state is very weak and susceptible to quick devastation and erosion menace.
“I’m convinced that if landlords construct covered catchment pits in their premises and channel water into such pits, it will minimise heavy flooding.”
Contributing, Mr Obinna Emeneka (Anambra East) said that the resolution should not be applicable to all landlords in the state but landlords in flood-prone communities.
Emeneka also urged the Ministry of Environment, the House Committee on Environment and the Nigeria Erosion Watershed Management Project to evolve a lasting solution to the phenomenon.
Also, Mr Douglas Egbunna (Onitsha North 1) called on the ministry of environment to work with the National Orientation Agency to intensify its public sensitisation against dumping of refuse in drains to ensure free flow of rain water.
The Deputy Speaker, Dr Paschal Agbodike, who presided over plenary session, underscored the need for palliative measures, including catchment pits, to check the menace.
“We can have flood catchment pits inside the residential compounds, by the sides of roads, within or beside school compounds, by the side of farms, and other suitable places,” Agbodike said.
The house also passed a resolution calling on the governor to direct the Commissioner for Transportation and the state traffic management agency to take urgent steps to decongest the Oko Road.
The motion was moved by Mr Emeka Aforka (Orumba North), who decried the unruly activities of transporters on the road.
He accused the transporters of picking and dropping commuters indiscriminately on the road, “thereby causing heavy traffic and accidents on the road.”
Ruling on the motion, the deputy speaker urged Obiano to repair the roads around the Oko Polytechnic and also direct the Ministry of Transportation and the state traffic management agency to urgently decongest the road.
“Oko is the only Federal Polytechnic that we have in the state and we must guard it jealously,” he said. NAN
AUG 21, 2019 @16:05 GMT |
Tags: Flooding: Anambra Assembly urges landlords to construct catchment pits to combat erosion
