A recent downpour has caused another flood scare for residents of flood-prone communities as the Ogun-Oshun River Basin Authority considers releasing another round of water from the Oyan River Dam.
It was gathered that the dam management alerted some stakeholders in the flood-prone communities about the development.
The chairman of the Riverview Estate in Isheri, Abayomi Akinde, told our correspondent on Tuesday that the move might lead to another flood crisis in the area.
Residents of communities at Isheri, Arepo, Lafenwa, Warewa, and other adjoining areas along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State were displaced by the flood caused by an excessive release of water from the Oyan Dam.
The dam, which is managed by the Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority, is located in the Abeokuta North Local Government Area of the state.
Most of the residents who reside in the lowland areas of these communities were the worst hit as the flood spread into their houses and damaged their properties.
While some of them were able to quickly salvage their belongings, others were not so lucky as their properties were already flooded due to the surge in the volume of water. Meanwhile, the flood water has reduced in the last few days.
Akinde, while speaking with our correspondent on Tuesday, said efforts were ongoing to forestall another release of excess water in order to avert another flood crisis.
He said, “I was alerted on Monday night by the dam management that there were plans to release another round of water. So, I had to go there this morning to have a discussion with them and the need to halt it and that has been considered.
“We have a stake more than the workers at the dam because they come and go. We have remained here over the years. That is why they decided to inform us of the development of the position of the dam on a daily basis for about a week now. The rain that fell overnight was much and they had to do some releases.”
Speaking on the current position of the water released from the dam, Akinde further said, “The gates of the dam have been reduced substantially. It will not be possible to close the dam at this time of the year. When the flood started, the gate was reduced to 48 per cent and that is a massive amount of water. Gradually, they reduced it by five per cent. So, because of the rainfall, they considered releasing it to probably eight or 10 per cent and of course which will bring more water downstream and the possibility of another round of flooding but that has been forestalled for now.”
He however noted that if another heavy rain falls again, the option of opening the dam beyond its current level might seriously be considered.
“There was a record of 53.10 millimetres of rainfall today and the water level had increased by 25 centimetres. The height available now is 1.16 metres. Assuming this is a period of peak rainfall, they definitely won’t consider the height of 1.16 metres because two days of heavy rainfall can completely overrun it,” he said.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
