The Benue State Government, through the Benue State Agro-Climatic Watershed Management Agency, has commenced further interventions aimed at permanently ending the recurring flood disasters experienced in parts of the state.
Construction work will soon begin on a 20-metre-wide major drainage network designed to channel floodwater from Welfare Quarters to Achusah and continue through Mopol Barracks down to the Industrial Layout, where it will discharge into the River Benue. Feeding into this main channel will be a network of drainages beginning from the mechanic workshop around Welfare Quarters and running through the Achusah area, as well as another drainage starting from the Peugeot Company along Otukpo Road, through Navy Road to Kids Authority Schools, and linking up through Hotel Lucia Road to Achusah.
All streets within Achusah and its environs will be captured under the scheme, with drainages constructed to link every affected street to the main channel. This will connect existing drainages to the river and put a permanent stop to the recurring floods in the affected areas.
The intervention was disclosed during an on-the-spot inspection and assessment of the flash floods around Achusah in Makurdi Local Government Area. The inspection team comprised the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Hon. Chief Solomon Iorpev; the Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Hon. Roy Ashirga; the Commissioner for Water Resources, Hon. Odoh Ugwu; the Commissioner for Works, Hon. Kuma Aii Yenge; and the General Manager of the Urban Development Board, Mr. Ter Mede.
Preliminary work has already commenced and mapping of the affected areas has been completed. The process will include the demolition of houses built on waterways within the affected areas. These measures are being undertaken in the interest of residents and the state at large. The government reaffirmed the unwavering commitment of the Alia-led administration to permanently ending flooding across Benue State.
