Gearing up for expected flooding in metropolis

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has identified 80 flood-prone areas in Metro Manila where flooding is exacerbated by the haphazard dumping of garbage and the limited capacity of the drainage system.

“What are the reasons for flooding? One, they are located in low-lying areas and the drainage system cannot accommodate the flood water and it is also clogged by garbage,” MMDA chief Romando Artes said in a press briefing where he discussed the preparations of the agency for the coming rainy season.

Artes said the number of flood-prone areas has “substantially decreased” compared to previous years, attributing this to the agency’s intervention measures.

Last Friday, several areas in Metro Manila, particularly in Quezon City, suffered flash floods due to the heavy rain caused by localized thunderstorms.

Artes said intervention measures by the MMDA, Department of Public Works and Highways and the 17 local government units in Metro Manila – ranging from cleaning up and de-clogging of esteros and other waterways, construction and upgrading of new and existing pumping stations and information drive – have played a part in overall efforts to address the problem of flooding in the metropolis.

He said the MMDA has cleaned 199,517 linear meters of drainage system from January 1 to May 12 this year and also installed 163 trash traps along waterways, including 28 located in pumping stations so that garbage will not clog the waterways and the operation of the pumping stations would not be affected, especially during heavy downpour.

Before the installation of the thrash traps, the agency collected around 32,000 cubic meters of garbage at pumping stations. With the traps installed, he said the volume of garbage collected decreased to around 10,000 cubic meters.

But Artes acknowledged that more can and should be done to ensure a flood-free Metro Manila.

“It is still concerning since there is still a substantial jump in garbage that ended up in the waterways, around 52,000 cubic meters per year before the installation, so there are probably around 20,000 cubic meters that ended up in our waterways,” he added.

He said in areas such as Espana, Taft, UN Ave., Araneta