Mayor hopes new system will minimize flooding
By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The Bacolod City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) has begun preparations for the rainy season, which is expected to start sometime between the last week of May and next month.
CDRRMO cluster head and Executive Assistant Joemarie Vargas said the city’s sewer jet equipment has been deployed to clear the city’s drainage pipes of garbage and debris.
A new P21 million sewer jet, imported from the US, is scheduled to be deployed once it is delivered to the city government in July.
Among the areas cleared by CDRRMO, in cooperation with the Department of Public Works and Highways, include Lacson Street, from 9th to 14th Lacson Streets; and Barangay Pahanocoy.
Vargas said the next cleaning operations will be conducted at the city’s main markets, Central Market, Burgos Public Market, and Libertad.
“We have mostly cleaned up the main thoroughfares, which are frequently flooded during times of heavy rain,” Vargas said.
He noted, most of the garbage and debris pulled out from drainage system range from tree leaves, rotting vegetation, and plastic bottles. There were also reports of car tires retrieved from drainage pipes.
The city official estimated around 1,280 sacks of debris were retrieved during one of their clearing operations last week.
Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, meanwhile, hopes the newly-installed flood control system along Lacson street will help minimize flooding.
“Chances are, it will really improve the situation,” Leonardia said.
Aside from the clearing operations, Vargas said they have completed the installation of flood early warning systems along major rivers in the city.
He said the local disaster risk reduction management offices in neighboring Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto will participate in monitoring rivers and forward information to the CDRRMO during heavy rains if rivers start to swell. That data would then be passed on to advise local residents to evacuate.
The flood early warning systems were installed in response to heavy flooding experienced in the city last September./DGB, WDJ