Flooded street of Lagos. Archived September 14, 2022/Radio Nigeria
In continuation of its flood mitigation and adaptation awareness campaign, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) on Tuesday met with representatives of Local Government Areas in Lagos East Senatorial District.
The theme of the campaign is “a Flood Free Lagos 2023: Building Flood Resilience is Our Collective Responsibility”
LASEMA had earlier conducted an analysis of flooding in all the council areas in the senatorial district with the aim of sensitising the local authority and expose them to ways to check the menace.
According to the Agency, the flooding incidents in the local council development areas in the district are man-made and wreaking havoc on the environment.
Major causes of flooding outlined in LASEMA’s analysis are high river levels, concentrations of overland flow due to heavy rainfall, limited capacity of drainage systems, as well as blockage of waterways and drainage channels developed to facilitate surface run-off
At the forum in Alausa, Ikeja, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu advised participants to establish a chain of command in each of the local government areas and warned against nonchalant attitude toward refuse-disposal.
Data from LASEMA indicates that the Agency attended to 119 incidents in July 2023, while it responded to and managed 795 incidents between January and July, ranging from road traffic accidents, collapsed buildings, fires, and gas or pipeline explosions.
Dr Oke-Osanyintolu pointed out that the state government’s investment in emergency management would not yield the desired result without effective commitment and support from the local councils and residents.
Responding, the Vice Chairman of Ijede LCDA, Mr Femi Kabir, identified poor drainage systems as one of the issues contributing to flooding and promised to heed to the advice of LASEMA and implement the necessary interventions.
Reporting by Omolara Omosanya; Editing by Chinasa Ossai and Annabel Nwachukwu