Residents of flood plains should relocate from their houses

Residents of flood plains have been advised by the Lagos State Government to relocate from their houses due to the heavy rain expected in the coming months.

The lowland areas include places such as Agboyi Ketu and Ajegunle.

This will forestall loss of lives and damage to properties that could result from the rain, which would intensify in August and September.

A statement said that the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, stated this during a briefing at Alausa, Ikeja.

Bello also warned residents living along the plains of the Ogun River, saying that they must be on the alert as the Ogun Osun River Basin Authority would soon commence seasonal release of the Oyan River Dam.

He stressed that the controlled water release was due to a weather forecast and the continuous heavy downpours.

“In July, five million cubic meters will be released, while by August, they will release eight to 10 million cubic meters.

In September, it will be increased to 18 million cubic meters, while in October, 23 million cubic meters will be released, which is the peak.

Then by November, gradual reduction of water release to the tube will be 11 million cubic meters,” Bello added.

The commissioner noted that from the prediction of the Nigerian Meteorological Services released early in the year, the increasing frequency of extreme weather events indicated that year 2020 would experience days with extremely high amount of rainfall which might result in flooding.

He, however, urged rest of Lagos to not be afraid, saying the state government had mapped out strategies to contain the flood.