Flooding: Lagos to adopt holistic approach, tackle collapsed drainage

Against the background of the devastating flooding that saw houses submerged and property swept away, Lagos State government said on Monday it was considering a holistic approach to tackling flooding in the state.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said this would require total re-engineering of the drainage systems, and this would be embarked upon urgently.
Idowu Salawu, an environmentalist, attributed weekend’s flooding to collapse of the drainage system in some parts of the state and improper town planning, where people built and blocked water channels.
Ade Adesanya, the commissioner for waterfront infrastructure development, said the torrential rainfalls witnessed in the state in the past few days accumulated a total of 477mm of water, which was equivalent to the rainfalls experienced in other climes for six months.
Governor Ambode, reflecting on the development at a workshop preparatory to Water Technology and Environmental Control (WATEC) exhibition coming up in Israel later in the year, said although the issue of flooding was a global challenge, urgent and holistic measures would be taken to tackle its re-occurrence in Lagos.
He said it was painful to see people lose their properties in most prime estates affected by the flood where many homes literally became pools.
He said the major strategies would be implemented with the view to bequeathing the state with enduring solution to water management and environmental control.
“However, if we have learnt anything in the on-going flooding of some parts of the state, it is that there is an immediate, even urgent need for us to embark upon a review and reengineering of our canals and drainage systems.
“This must be pursued hand-in-hand with a clear and crystal re-envisioning of our water management system. So, in effect, what we should immediately pursue is a holistic solution to what is certain to be a recurring problem. It must be a sincere collaboration between government and the citizenry,” Ambode said.
The governor said despite the fact that the state had been denied ecological funds by the previous federal government for political reasons, several reforms were being implemented in line with the capacity of the state government to protect the shoreline and carry out de-flooding, which according to him, are equally expensive to implement.
“The issue is when you are talking about reforms, it comes with pains but it is only the vision that drives it through and that is what we are doing,” he said.
On the import of the workshop, Ambode said the government was partnering with Israel, which is one of the first countries to successfully overcome its limitations in water resources to develop water technology and environmental control, adding that the intention would be to explore a wide array of technological advancements and possibilities to ensure best solutions.
He said as a first step, the government would participate at the WATEC exhibition and take full advantage of state of the art technology in Israel, with the view to applying same solution in the state.
While alluding to the fact that the incidence of flooding was not circumscribed to Nigeria or Third World countries as United Kingdom and even Japan recently witnessed heavily flooding, the governor said no matter how well a society may be prepared, natural occurrences could not be totally ruled out, and such was why Lagos and indeed the country fully subscribes to the tenets of Climate Change Solutions by the United Nations.
“While all the aforementioned examples enjoin us to put our experience and pains into perspective, they also impress on us as a State and a government that we must learn from all these examples in order to better prepare for the future.
“To that extent, we will reinvigorate our campaign against the dumping of refuse by citizens into canals. We will be stronger in enforcing our physical planning laws especially those building illegally on canals and blocking the free flow of water across the State,” the governor said.
Guy Feldman, Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, said his country was ready to partner Lagos State to bring about lasting solutions to water management and environmental control.