Flood: Existing water channels in Ogun need holistic review ― NSE Abeokuta

The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Abeokuta branch, has urged the Ogun State government to re-assess all the existing water channels in the state due to perennial tendency of flood in the state.

While expressing solidarity with government and the people of the state on the unfortunate flood incident in Abeokuta metropolis on July 4, which resulted in the loss of properties, the NSE advised that a detailed engineering study of the capacity of existing water channels in the metropolis be carried out.

This, it said, is in view of the significant increase in surface runoff from the increase in the length and width of the road network, particularly over the last few years.

In a press statement signed by the NSE Abeokuta branch chairman, Dr Olanrewaju Apampa, the NSE called for principal outlet channels to the Ogun River, passing through Isale Oja Kuto, Sokori and Ijeja to be widened, deepened and trained to enhance to a capacity determined by engineering design and evaluation.

He further called for a total re-assessment of the performance of all multiple cell ring culverts across the state, with a view to replacing them with box culverts of fewer but larger cells or short to medium span bridges, giving Adigbe multiple cell ring culvert as a typical example.

In the immediate term, Apampa advised the state government to step up the clearing and de-silting of all waterways, removal of all obstructions for free flow of water, campaign against dumping of refuse in the waters and the need for maintenance of waterways to be institutionalised as a routine exercise.

The NSE also advocated structural condition re-assessment of all hydraulic structures like Ijeja and Isale Oja Kuto bridges impacted by the flood, with a view to identifying and remediating any defect or impairment ahead of their total reconstruction.

As part of its corporate social responsibility, the NSE Abeokuta branch said it is extending its hand of fellowship to the state government by embarking on the preliminary engineering study of the capacity of water channels in the major metropolis of the state.

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