The Jigawa Emergency Management Agency (JISEMA), has warned residents of the state from blocking existing waterways through indiscriminate dumping of wastes.
The Executive Secretary of the Agency, Dr Haruna Mairiga, gave the warning in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Thursday.
Mairiga said the warning was imperative to avoid flooding as the 2024 rainy season sets in.
He warned the residents, especially farmers to avoid destroying the embankments constructed in various flood prone areas across the state.
The secretary lamented that farmers sometimes, vandalised the embankments to make way for evacuation of their harvested farm produce to their homes or market.
Mairiga said that by breaking the embankments, the farmers are inviting flood to their communities.
He, therefore, advised the farmers to ensure that they did not damage the embankments to avoid flooding.
“Our advice to people on this year’s flood prediction is that residents must clean their environment, including waterways in order to allow free flow of water during the rainy season”
“We have information that there would be flood in our state this year, as such it became imperative to caution the general public against blockage of all water channels and drains.
“We should avoid dropping garbage and sand indiscriminately but rather inculcate the habit of community service in evacuating already blocked drains to give way for free flow of rain water,” he said.
He advised the people to ensure that they close the embankments after opening them to move their harvested farm produce out.
The secretary assured that the agency would soon take its sensitisation campaign to communities on what people need to do in order to reduce the impact of flood in the state.. (NAN)
