Lagos launches pumping stations for flood control

To mitigate the incidence of flooding, the Lagos State Government is building pumping stations as a flood risk management strategy.The strategy followed Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) forecast in its 2020 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP), early in the year, that Lagos State will experience a rainy season of 240-270 days, with more rains expected in September and October.

State’s Commissioner for the Environment and Water resources, Tunji Bello disclosed this at a briefing to further enlighten residents on the impending pattern of rainfall, which the state will experience from September till the end of the year.

He stressed that the state is already experimenting the use of pump stations at Ilubirin in Lagos Island.

According to him, the pumping stations were parts of new multifarious efforts by the state government to ensure that the heavy rainfalls expected to resume in September and cause flash flood will have minimal effect on residents.

The pumping stations, he said, will ensure quick pumping out of water from flooded neighbourhoods such as Isheri North and environs.

The commissioner stated that the state is stepping up its advocacy campaigns by producing jingles using known faces in the theater industry for testimonials on why residents should desist from erecting structures on set-back of drainage channels.

While calling for citizens’ participation in flood risk control, the commissioner expressed the state’s readiness to step up efforts to ensure that the heavy rainfalls expected to resume will have minimal effect on residents.

According to him, the state is presently working on over 22 secondary channels out of which over 80 per cent are in various stages of completion, just as 46 primary channels are receiving attention.