Environmental experts in the South-South have stated that proper planning and waste management are keys to flood prevention in the region.

The experts from Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers said while responding to a survey on mitigating the impact of flooding in areas.

They maintained that to curb flooding in Nigeria, town planning must be improved as its importance in any ecological situation cannot be overemphasised.

The respondents, however, said that proper education on the hydrograph, waste management and attitudinal change of residents in waste disposal would go a long way in mitigating the impact of floods.

Speaking in Cross River, Joel Effiong, a Hydrological and Geographical Information System expert at the University of Calabar, said that flooding was worse in urban areas due to poor town planning.

According to him, building houses in the urban areas and making every inch of the premises a concrete floor was a recipe for flooding.

Mr Effiong maintained that water runoff is the major cause of floods and gully erosion.

Similarly, Eze Bassey of the Department of Geography in UniCal, called for a constant study and referral to the state’s hydrograph to properly warn residents on what to do before and after it rains.

He also called for the constant maintenance of the massive drainage channel in Calabar, which moves 80 per rcent of water into the river whenever it rains.

Mr Bassey said this should not be the government’s responsibility alone, as every community in the state should be responsible enough to clear their drains for the free flow of water.

The commissioner for the environment, Moses Osogi, said that the state had started desilting drains and was creating awareness of lifestyle changes.

He added that the state, in partnership with the Niger Delta Development Commission, had distributed hundreds of receptacle bins in urban areas for proper waste disposal.

He said that the taskforce was also going after scavengers who scatter waste in the receptacle bins and forced a lot of the waste into the bins through the drainage.

In Rivers, Benson Abu, Waste Management Society of Nigeria’s spokesman, said the society had carried out enlightenment campaigns.

He said poor waste management accounted for over 60 per cent of the flood cases in Port Harcourt and environs.

Mr Abu stated that plastic waste contributed hugely to the congestion of drainage and waterways, which was the primary cause of flooding in metropolitan areas.

He, however, urged Rivers residents to ensure free flow of water channels by eschewing dumping refuse into the drains and ensuring waste-free surroundings.

Atajit Francis, the sole administrator of the Andoni LGA, said that the council had reawakened the consciousness of grassroots dwellers to sanitation.

According to Mr Francis, sanitation formed part of the mandates given to the 23 local government administrators by the Ibok-Ete Ibas-led administration.

“Sanitation, when holistically addressed, would not only tackle diseases but floods too. We are set to resume the compulsory monthly environmental sanitation exercise to ensure that our drainages and waterways are desilted,’’ he said.

An environmentalist, Kentebe Ebiaridor, said that town planning was critical in mitigating floods and reducing their impact. He urged the government to ensure proper town planning in the cities and communities to prevent construction in flood-prone areas.

Mr Ebiaridor said that town planning promoted floodplains for natural ecosystems, providing habitat for various plants and animals, acting as natural buffers against floods.

He added that with town planning, wetlands and agriculture areas were identified, while drainage systems and green spaces were properly put in exact places to reduce floods.

Mr Ebiaridor said that without town planning, designing roads, buildings, and bridges would have flaws as they might end up being built in flood-prone areas, while emergency action against floods would be in vain.

According to him, proper town planning manages entire river basins effectively, supports groundwater recharge while decreasing surface runoff, and mitigates flooding in most cities and states in Nigeria.

He, however, highlighted the importance of strategic land use, infrastructure design, and environmental management as actions for flood mitigation.

In Akwa Ibom, a town planner, Akpabio Ufot-Akpabio, stated that there must be adequate town or physical planning, management and development to mitigate flooding in the state and country.

He decried the situation where some states in the federation were still operating colonial town planning laws that were obsolete and of no use.
He called on governments at all levels to be serious in the town planning system of the country to avoid flooding.

The town planner added that despite the warning signals from NiMET, some states were still not taking steps to plan for the flooding.

He added that the planning law, which was passed in Nigeria many years ago, had not been domesticated by most of the states in the country. He said that most states did not have laws regulating physical planning but used the British or colonial planning law.

Mr Ufot-Akpabio said that colonial planning law was still used in Akwa Ibom but added that such planning was still primitive.

In his contribution, information commissioner Aniekan Umanah said the state government had already embarked on desilting of the drains to ensure free flow of water and prevent flooding.

According to him, the government has approved the construction of Afaha Ube street and side drains to link Ikot Ekpene road, which will help to alleviate flooding in the area.

Mr Umanah added that the governor had directed Allan Ikim, the Akwa Ibom State Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency chairman, to ensure adequate desilting of the side drains across the metropolis.

According to him, the government is also working on infrastructure projects, such as the Nkari Dam, which will help to enhance irrigation farming, water supply, and flood control.

He said that these initiatives demonstrated the government’s commitment to addressing flooding in Akwa Ibom and improving the lives of its citizens.

Charles Effiong identified the attitudes of residents of the state and Nigerians as contributing to flooding in the country. Mr Effiong said that even when adequate town planning is being implemented, Nigerians’ attitude must change to reduce flooding in the country.

He, therefore, called for a change in the attitude of Nigerians who dumped their bags of waste into the drains, blocking the free flow of water channels, thereby causing flooding.

‘’This is a problem, you see people build shops and block drains, water will not flow the way it should flow. ’So attitudinal change has to be addressed, in terms of waste management and in terms of development,” he said.

He urged the government to sensitise the residents on the best waste disposal practices and against the habit of disposing of waste into gutters and blocking drainages.

He urged residents to naturally inculcate the habit of desilting drainages, especially during the rainy season, to avoid flooding.

(NAN)