Osun Government starts cleansing drainages and rivers after a flash flood

The Osun State Ministry of Environment has started cleaning up clogged drainages, streams, rivers, and waterways because of the flood that occurred.

The measure is in accordance with the state governor’s orders to quickly activate the state’s flood control plans, Ademola Adeleke.Sasa Market in Osogbo was flooded on Saturday as a result of a significant downpour, Traders in Osogbo’s Sasa Market petitioned the state government on Sunday to widen the bridge over the Sasa River in order to stop the market from continuously overflowing during rainy weather.

The traders made the demand while discussing the flooding that occurred in the market on Saturday after a lot of rain.Following the rain on Saturday, many market stalls were swamped, their contents being washed away.

Many traders who sold food, cattle, rams, and cassava were impacted by the occurrence. The flooding cost them a fortune. We previously complained to the Ministry of Environmental, however, the problem continues, according to the impacted merchants.

After the occurrence traders appeal to the state government to help them expand the bridge and also expand the river to allow easy flow of water, especially whenever there is heavy rain. Also, they are seeking the government’s assistance on behalf of those that lost goods to the incident.

The state’s governor, Ademola Adeleke, has ordered the appropriate government agencies to immediately activate the state’s flood prevention strategies after hearing reports of the inspections of the recent Osogbo flash floods, which devastated various locations in the state capital, the governor issued the decision.

Also the governor sent orders to the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Works, and other related organizations to expedite all ongoing channelization projects and begin putting the state government’s flood prevention program into action.

Other employees were guided to the locations of the flash floods that destroyed homes in some areas of Osogbo, the capital of the State, as well as other towns and cities, by officers from the Ministry of Environment and Sanitation’s Flood and Engineering Services.

The State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, had instructed the Ministry to immediately activate the state’s flood control plans and to forward its report, along with actionable recommendations, to him, according to the Director of Floods and Engineering Services in the Ministry, Engineer Odesanmi Kamorudeen, who made the disclosure in Osogbo.

According to Odesanmi, work to clear the state’s waterways began on Sunday and continued on Monday as debris from clogged drainages, rivers, and streams was cleared.

“The Government has the matter under control. Our machines are operating in several places throughout the state as I speak to you,” he said.

“Our teams are establishing some rivers in specific locations, and we won’t stop until the project is finished.

“We will go to great lengths to preserve the lives and property of the citizens, clearing every nook and cranny of the state. His Excellency, Senator Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke, gave the ministry that directive, Odesanmi emphasized.

The governor’s spokesperson and chairman of the Osun Governor’s Advisory Council on Environment, Olawale Rasheed, responded by stating that the state has a flood preparedness strategy and that the Ministry of the Environment has been working in that direction.

He continued by pointing out that streams and canals are being channeled throughout the state.

Rasheed expressed sympathy for the victims of last week’s flash floods, praised the Ministry of Environment for its quick response, and urged state people to do their bit by refraining from careless dumping of trash into drainage systems, waterways, and streams.

However, some of the locals made a request to the state government for assistance in rebuilding the sections of the line-drainage along the Gbonmi, Alie, and Okoko rivers in Osogbo that had failed.