All structures on drainage channels and alignments hampering the free flow of water in Lagos are to be demolished.
The Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, gave the order during a tour of dark drainage spots during last weekend’s downpour.
The tour, which took the Commissioner and the Ministry’s officials and those of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) to Sogunle-Ikeja, Ajiran in Lekki and Salawe/Taike in Ikosi-Ketu, among other areas in the state, disclosed that most of the flooded areas had been blocked by refuse dumps, illegal structures on low lying areas, flood plains and drainage channels.
Adejare, while empathising with the affected communities, assured the victims of the flood that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has ordered interventions, including re-dredging of all drainages and canals impacted by the incident to prevent any loss of lives and property.
Adejare appealed to residents located on the state’s low-lying areas and flood plains to relocate to higher grounds, considering that heavier rains were in the offing ahead.
Lagosians, he warned, should desist from dumping refuse into the drainage channels because they are meant to drain water and not for waste.