Two flood control structures totaling P104.75 million have been completed to address flooding in Negros Occidental’s cities of San Carlos and Sipalay.

In a report yesterday, the Department of Public Works and Highways in Western Visayas (DPWH-6) said in San Carlos City, a P50 million project has been constructed on both sides of the Andoon River along the Bacolod North Road.

DPWH-6 Director Nerie Bueno said the 212-lineal meter stone masonry wall structure, which is now fully operational, would reduce the community’s vulnerability to flooding by preventing overflow when the water level rises.

“It enables easy and faster excavation of river deposits caused by erosion from the mountain ranges of San Carlos,” she said.

To control the erosion of river banks and contain the rising water level, coco nets and sodding have been placed on the embankments.

District Engineer Oscar de la Cruz of the Negros Occidental Sub-district Engineering Office said that aside from protecting lives and properties, the structures would also ensure that crops and other agricultural products would be protected from the risk of flooding.

In the south, the P54.75 million flood control project in Sipalay City would address soil erosion and recurring floods in Poblacion’s villages of Gil Montilla, Nauhang and Mamboroto.

The structure consists of a 420-meter lineal revetment wall with a hand-laid rock embankment.

“It would prevent possible water overflow that may damage and destroy crops and farmlands in Sipalay,” Bueno said.

In recent years, San Carlos and Sipalay are among the local government units in Negros Occidental that have reported flooding in several of its barangays during typhoons and torrential rains. (PNA)