CITY GOV’T FORTIFIES FLOOD MITIGATION MEASURES

DAGUPAN CITY – The city government is now working closely with various agencies as flood mitigation activities are currently being conducted in all areas in the city where floodwaters continue to persist.

 One of them was the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), where it has recently extended their assistance in clearing and declogging silted esteros and drainage systems on Cuison Road in Barangay Tapuac.

BRAINSTORMING - Dagupan City Mayor Belen T. Fernandez (second from right) meet yesterday with officials of the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Regional Office 1 – Equipment Management Division, Science and Technology-PAGASA Dagupan and Education (DepEd). The meeting was third of a series as the local government meticulously studies the causes of the recent calamity that battered the city. “This will enable us to determine proper mitigation measures to undertake to help prevent future disasters,” the mayor cited. She said the meeting was a preparation for the Disaster Preparedness Summit that the city will be conducted soon.

The clean up drive is in conjunction with the de-watering of the creek connecting flood prone Calarin, Krystaville Subdivisions and Greenfields where drainage canals remain stagnant.

City Engineer Virgina V. Rosario disclosed the need to conduct clean up drives in drainage systems as heavy rains and waters from upstream and different areas brought silt as well as trash that clogged the city’s waterways.

“Even our rivers, including the mouth of the rivers, have constricted because they are silted,” added Rosario.

Aside from these activities, the local government is also conducting talks with concerned agencies such as DPWH, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) Dagupan, to help determine the causes of the recent flooding as well as the necessary countermeasures that need to be taken.

Both short-term and long-term solutions for the flooding were studied during the meeting, including the continuous upgrading of roads and drainages, rehabilitation of creeks and waterways, establishment of pumping stations and floodgates, reinforcement of dikes in the city and many others.

Mayor Belen T. Fernandez disclosed her plans to elevate most, if not all roads, drainage systems and areas in the city as means of preventing another extreme flooding.

This after this city, a catch basin of water from upstream, was battered by two extreme flooding in less than a month due to several factors like high tide, heavy monsoon rains and floodwaters coming from upstream and other areas that submerged most parts of the city.

The local government prepares for a roundtable discussion with the business sector and barangay officials regarding their concerns and suggestions for possible solutions for the flood. (Verdelle De Vera/CIO)

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