The Hadejia River Basin Development Authority is on a mission to rescue communities in three states in the north suffering from the menace of erosion as BAYO MUHAMMED ALABIRA reports.
Flooding which used to be the cause of deaths in many communities with destruction of houses as well as property worth billions of naira in Jigawa, Bauchi and Kano states would soon be the thing of the past as the federal government, on a rescue mission, has already put solid measures on ground to be carried out against the menace.
Loss of lives and property
In 2020 alone, Jigawa state witnessed flooding that had not being seen in 32 years according to elders in the state. It was further estimated that about 60 people lost their lives with hundreds of thousands houses destroyed. And about two million tons of rice was washed away by the floods. Nigeria as a whole lost a quarter (25%) of its rice production to floods in 2020. 51,000 families was displaced in the state in 2020 by the floods across the 27 local government areas.
Jigawa has for several years had been affected by serious floods that led to the death of so many victims including women and children. Among these episodes was that of 2012 where half of Yankasawa village in Ringim local government area was submerged. The entire village was relocated to a new place but some residents refused to leave as they rather prefered to remain there suffering continuously from the same problem every year.
Just recently, the managing director of Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority (HJRBDA) Ma’amun Da’u Aliyu has cleared the air on the predicament of the people who used to be the victims of the incessant floods that occur every year in Kano, Jigawa and Bauchi states.
The MD in a media chart with newsmen in Kano further explained that federal government through Hadeja Jama’are River Basin Development Authority (HJRBDA) would do all it can to control flood that used to occur around the month of August and September every year along the three operating states of Jigawa, Kano and Bauchi.
Causes
However, the MD said the causes of the floods that used to ravage Kano, Jigawa and Bauchi states leading to loss of lives and destruction of property annually is said to be caused by blockages on the river banks of Hadejia Jama’are by Typha grasses. The flood occur in the middle of the rainy season when the ground is saturated and the water level is high and the water in the Tiga Dam is continually released throughout the rainy season to dry season.
“Because Tiga Dam has the capacity of 1.9 billion cubic litres of water, we continually release the water 24-hour. If the flooding is caused by releasing water from the Tiga Dam, that would also happen during the dry season, because the water is continuously pouring out nonstop. But flooding only occurs in the middle of the rainy season when the soil is saturated.”
These blockages are obstructing the free floor of water in these rivers, hence causing dangerous flooding along Ringim, Jahun, Miga, Auyo, Kafinhausa, Hadejia, Malam Madori, Birniwa, Kiri Kassamma and Guri local government areas of the state. All the 27 local government areas are affected annually but the above mentioned LGAs are the worst hit.
“Also what causes the flood is the germination of the Typha grass found in Hadejia valley area along the line to Lake Chad. The Typha grass has been, for years, bedeviling the river, blocking the water’s access. And Typha grass is either causes desiltation of the river base or desiltation caused by the emergence of the Typha grass. Typha grass is the major issue causing flooding in the areas because it technically blocks the river canals and stops the water from running.”
Remedy
“For the past three years, HJRBDA has been trying to control the Typha grass so that the water will be able to get enough space to pass through. In this 2021 financial budget, we have a provision to acquire equipment known as aquatic excavator that has the capacity to get into the river and uproot the Typha grass in the middle of the river. When this is done, I believe the water will have enough space to pass and flooding would be a thing of the past in these states,” he explained.
Explaining further he said,”Since the establishment of Hadeja River Irrigation Scheme during former President Shagari’s administration, only the present administration embarked on dredging, rehabilitation and expanding the scheme,” he stressed.
The MD also debunked the allegation making a round that HJRBDA is always responsible for the incessant floodings ravaging the three states of Kano, Jigawa and Kano. It was widely circulated that HJRBDA always release large volume of water that flooded through the length and breadth of the three states. He further narrated that water must have to be released throughout the seasons to allow the downstream communities benefit from the water.
“The issue of desilting River Hadejia has been on year in and year out due to the incessant flooding the area faces every rainy season. But it is a wrong assumption that HJRBDA opened the river canal which causes the flooding. That is not true. HJRBDA does not release water to cause havoc.”
He added that, “The water is always open because when you construct a dam on a major river like that of Hadejia, you are mandated by international law to be releasing the water continually so that people in the downstream sector would be able to get their own share of the water. But if you block the water, you are creating scarcity and other environmental hazards in the downstream sector. We are by law not allowed to block the water.”
He said the issue of Tiga dam being released and causing flooding is totally baseless, because it is normally in the rainy season around August to September that the water level is high and flood occurs everywhere in the country, not only in the three states.
The MD further stressed that when there is adequate rainfall and the soil is supersaturated as the rainwater finds its way to the river along the riverine areas. After it floods into the river, it gets into farmlands and submerged the surrounding vulnerable communities along the low land or coastal areas respectively.
Aliyu also said as soon as the HJRBDA gets the excavators, the dredging of the rivers would continue unabated. But he said lack of those machines exacerbates and worsens the situation along the river Hadejia Jama’are. This causes flooding along Jigawa wet land resulting to loss of lives, farm land as well as property worth billions of naira.
“We are planning to get the excavator machines by October. In that period, we would get fully into activities of removing the Typha grass and equally desilting the river base and probably dredge the river to expand it so that there would be adequate water routes for the water to pass through. We are also erecting an embarkment in Auyo local government area in Jigawa state.”
Therefore, the need for embankment has also being stressed out. The embankment, if created, can cover a long distance area especially in local governments that always having the worst devastation in Jigawa state. “The embarkment which is 3.8 kilometres in length and about 3 metres in height, would give the communities that were once submerged protection.”
In conclusion, urgent measures are needed to be taken by federal government through HJRBDA to accelerate curbing the menace of flooding in Kano, Jigawa and Bauchi states. If this is done, then lives and property, especially the farm land would be saved and farmers along the valleys would have bountiful harvests.
