BACOLOD City – City officials have come up with short and long-term plans to avert flooding when it rains.
Yesterday, a meeting was held at the Bacolod City Government Center led by Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and attended by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran; Anna Marie Laarni Pornan, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO); a representative from the City Engineer’s Office (CEO); and the Department of Public Works and Highways.
On Oct. 3 some areas of the city got flooded when it rained. The water surface runoff was estimated to be between 0.5 and two feet.
Pornan said the drainage system could not immediately catch up with the sudden downpour.
Proposed during the meeting were the following short-term plans:
* change the manhole cover into steel grating type
* declog the drainage
* enlarge the water inlets
* widen the opening of the catch basin
* correct garbage disposal
* conduct information dissemination
The long-term plan is to construct diversion channels. But, this suggestion was referred to the CEO for study, Pornan said.
The city officials also identified 22 flooding areas. These were: Hi-Strip in Barangay Villamonte; SM City, Barangay 12; Burgos-Hilado Streets; downtown area ; Gonzaga Subd., Barangay Villamonte; Libertad Public Market; Central Market; Lacson-Hernaez Streets; Rosario-Mabini Streets; Gonzaga-Lopez Jaena Streets; Luzuriaga-Gatuslao Streets; Gonzaga-Mabini Streets; Lopue’s East; Lupit River, Barangay 40; Mandalagan River (near Queen of Mercy Hospital); Sta. Ana, Barangay 31; J.R. Torres; Gatuslao-Hernaez Streets; Mabini-Libertad Streets; Hernaez Street (Cokin Bldg.); Magsaysay-Lacson Streets./PN
