The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Nyesom Wike, has ordered the immediate desilting of drainage channels, culverts and other waterways across Abuja following flash floods triggered by a torrential downpour earlier in the week.
Wike, who directed the Acting Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Engr. Richard Dauda, to inspect the affected areas, also ordered relevant FCT agencies to remove structures obstructing natural waterways.
Dauda disclosed this on Thursday after inspecting flood-prone locations along the Airport Expressway in Abuja.
He said the heavy rainfall, which caused flooding in parts of the city two days earlier, had been predicted by weather forecasters, adding that climate change had contributed to increasingly intense rainfall.
“Two days ago, there was heavy rainfall, which the weather forecast had already forecasted that rainfalls will be heavy this year,” Dauda said.
“Like the Honourable Minister had already explained during the media chat, climate change is also evident and with that, there was the torrential rainfall that came with some flash floods.”
According to him, Abuja’s Master Plan recognises the existence of flood plains and the possibility of flash floods, stressing, however, that the infrastructure provided in the city was adequate to drain stormwater when properly maintained.
“What is required is resilient infrastructure. That has been provided. And if you see the Airport Expressway, it’s good infrastructure. However, part of the infrastructure provided is the drainage facilities.
“Some of the drainage facilities over time have been silted. As the Minister directed, desilting is already going on so that when the rains fall again, we won’t have a similar experience,” he said.
Dauda blamed indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drains and waterways for worsening the flooding, saying waste materials, polythene bags, sand and other large objects were washed into culverts and drainage outlets during heavy rainfall.
He said once the outlets became blocked, the drainage facilities could no longer discharge water at the required capacity, leading to flooding.
The FCDA boss appealed to Abuja residents to stop dumping refuse into drainage channels, warning that human activities were a major factor responsible for recurring flash floods in the city.
He also revealed that a developer had narrowed a major water channel flowing from the Galadima Roundabout area and crossing the Airport Expressway.
According to him, the stream passes beneath the expressway through a triple-cell box culvert measuring three metres by three metres and carries a large volume of water during heavy rainfall.
However, he said the developer constricted the waterway by constructing retaining walls to create additional land.
“This causes detention and backflow, and eventually, it overflows. Then we get flooding,” he said.
“What needs to be done is to remove this structure that the developer has put there so that we can have the adequate volume of discharge and adequate width of the stream channel.”
Dauda also raised the alarm over vandalism of gully inlet covers, saying the theft of the covers had contributed to the blockage of drainage facilities.
He explained that the covers were designed to trap debris before it entered the drains but said their removal allowed large volumes of waste and other materials to clog the system.
“When these gully inlet covers are stolen, it opens the drains. The inlets are supposed to sieve the debris so that it can be swept up, but once it is no longer there, all debris now goes into the gully inlets,” he said.
He added that the FCDA was considering the use of alternative materials for replacing stolen covers to discourage vandalism.
“The authority is looking at the option of providing materials that are not recyclable, other than steel and cast iron,” he said.
Dauda said Wike had directed responsible agencies to intensify the desilting of trapezoidal drains, U-channels and culverts across the Federal Capital City.
“The Minister has directed that all the drains, the trapezoidal drains, U-channels along the road, as well as the culverts are to be desilted and cleared, and where new construction is required, that will be done,” he said.
He added that desilting operations were already underway along the Airport Expressway, with workers deployed to clear blocked drains and culvert outlets.
Dauda said the exercise would be sustained across other flood-prone parts of the city to improve water flow and reduce the risk of flooding as the rainy season continues.
