The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Ministries of Water Resources, Transportation and Works and Housing and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to initiate the process of dredging Anambra River.
This was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Chinedu Obidigwe (APGA-Anambra) at the plenary on Thursday.
Moving the motion earlier, Obidigwe said that the Anambra River had depths which enable it to contain a large volume of water emptying into it from various rivers and tributaries.
He said that in spite of the flow of water into the river, it had never recorded incident of overflowing its banks to ravage the coastal areas.
According to him, in 2012, heavy rainfall caused a flood to occur, which ravaged the coastal plains and caused water currents to reach the coastal soils, and in the process, moved sands into Anambra River bed.
He said that it made the river depths shallow, as a result of which, whenever a large volume of water empties into the river, it overflowed its banks into the coastal communities.
The lawmaker who represents Anambra East and West Federal Constituency said that the overflow was wreaking havoc on homes, schools, worship places, farmlands and other valuable places.
“The yearly overflow of the river overwhelms Enugu Otu, Mkpunando, Ezi Agulu Otu, Umueze Anam, Ifite Anam, Ezi Anam, Nzam, Olumba na’asa and Umundeze communities in Anambra State.
“It also overwhelms Ojor, Igga and Asaba communities in Enugu State and Odeke, Echonu and Obale communities in Kogi, destroying farmlands and household items worth billions of naira,” he said.
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He explained that the economic losses to the annual flood of those communities as a result of the shallowness of the Anambra river depth could not be compared with the cost of dredging the river to reclaim its normal depth.
Obidigwe said that dredging the Anambra River will provide an alternative route for the evacuation of oil which was currently being explored in the Anambra Basin.
The House urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials to the victims of flooding whenever it happened.
The Deputy Speaker, Rep. Ahmed Wase, mandated the Committees on Water Resources, Harbours and Waterways, Works and Appropriations to ensure the provision of funds for dredging of Anambra River in the 2021 budget.
NAN