By Mae Singuay
The Bacolod City government and the City Engineering District of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will conduct a joint investigation as three major areas in the city were affected by flooding on Sunday afternoon, April 30.
Major city roads — particularly near a shopping mall in the Reclamation Area, San Juan Street, and the corner of Magsaysay-Araneta Avenue along the flyover — were no longer passable last Sunday due to floodwaters brought by heavy rains for more than two hours.
Based on the initial investigation, the Mambuloc Creek had overflowed and floodwaters went down to the Reclamation Area, which might be one of the causes of flooding, DPWH City District Engineer Abraham Villareal said.
The DPWH came up with a solution to implement a diversion drainage channel project from Mambuloc Creek to Reclamation Area.
Villareal said it is possible also that the mall’s drainage system — considered to be old, unfunctional and clogged — is another reason for the flooding therein.
“Along Magsaysay Avenue, we have allocated a P5 million budget to arrest the flooding in that place,” Villareal said.
Currently, the DPWH is conducting drainage declogging in the city as some of them are congested with garbage.
During a meeting with Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and other city officials, Villareal said the mayor recommended that there should be a mapping plan to show the ongoing and completed projects.
He said the DPWH had volunteered to make the plan and by giving them a month for it./MS, WDJ