The Ondo State Government has assured the residents of Ondo town of its readiness to take measures to permanently check flooding in the area.

Flash flood ravaged Ondo town on Friday, leading to the loss of property worth millions of naira.

The Special Adviser to the Ondo State Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Ayo Babalola, said the state government was on top of the situation.

He spoke on Saturday, when he inspected the extent of the havoc wreaked by the flood in the town.

Mr Babalola, who was in Ondo with some engineers from the ministry of works and infrastructure, blamed the incident on people building on the river course.

He said that the state government approved the reconstruction of the culvert to a large one that would accommodate the volume of water running through the canal.

The areas affected by the flood included Ita Nla, Oke Odunwo (Jordan Street), Lipakala /Laje Road, Yaba, Esporta Suits (Ife Road) and Funbi Fagun Estate.

“We have to appeal to our people. If you look at the volume of water coming from the other side of the culvert to Jordan Street here is so heavy. That’s why we have this kind of incident. We have observed some of the things our people are doing in the neighbourhood, dumping of refuse in the canal. Though this is minimal, this culvert, I was told, was built over 40 years ago. There are six rings, three below, three at the top. But as you can see, the three below have been covered, leaving three which are not enough to contain the volume of water coming from the other side of the culvert. But some of our people are building on the river course. Our Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa will do the needful to ensure we address this challenge. By the time we are through with this box-culvert, we will do some channelling to some meters on either side of the culvert,” Mr Babalola said.

According to him, about three weeks ago, the government instructed the contractor to move to the site because the culvert has been awarded, but with the new development, it will have to expand the scope of the contract.

He stated, “There’s little that we can do now because the rain is heavy, but by the time it subsides, we will begin serious construction work. The contractor will come tomorrow to ensure the water flows through the course. He will start full construction when the rain subsides.’’

He added that the state ministry of environment’s amphibious excavator had done some good work to dredge the river. 

(NAN)