
Member representing Anambra East and West Federal Constituency in House of Representatives, Honourable Chinedu Obidigwe, has sponsored a motion calling for the dredging of Omabala River in Anambra state, popularly known as Anambra River.
The motion came on the heels of massive water submerging towns and local government areas in Anambra, Kogi and Enugu states as was predicted by the Metrology Department of the Federal government.
In a resolution by the entire members of the House, the legislature urged the federal government to include the dredging of the Anambra River in the 2021 appropriation in order to avert subsequent flooding in future.
According to Obidigwe who is also the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Environment, the House noted that the Omabala River has depth to contain the large volume of flood which flows into Rivers and tributaries thereby, causing great havoc on coastal communities, schools, farm lands and residential buildings.
Honourable Obidigwe noted that the flooding has always affected Communities such as Okpunando, Ida, Odekpe, Olumbanasa, Ojo, Enoma, Ukwalla and other coastal communities across Anambra, Kogi and Enugu states.
He also hinted that the dredging of Omabala River would also provide an alternative to the evaluation of oil and gas petroleum products from Anambra state which is ongoing.
The House resolved that the Federal Ministry of Works, Housing, Water resources, and National Inland Water Ways should initiate the process of dredging Omabala River in the 2021 budget and also urged the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to be alive to its responsibilities in providing relief materials on time to ensure that victims of flooding are given effective assistance in the advent of flood.
Already, a total of 138 communities have so far been submerged by flood across the three coastal states of Anambra, Enugu and Kogi .