Why Mararaba flood persists
Maraba, a suburb of the FCT which serves as a host town for hundreds of workers in Abuja and also links many states to the FCT, has recently become a hotspot for flood.
The flash flood which occurs after every rainfall usually blocks the Keffi-Abuja Expressway, ravaging people’s homes, destroying properties and causing traffic gridlock.
The flood situation in the area according to health experts has worsened lately and may lead to outbreak of diseases as the flood discharges contents of soakaway pits into the streets.
Residents do not also help matters as they empty their refuse into waterways as soon as it starts raining, and this leaves the whole place littered with refuse of all sorts when the flood water drains away.
Dr John Okon, a general medical practitioner with one of the private medical clinics in the area, told Daily Trust that the area experiences one epidemic or the other each rainy season.
“As a doctor who had worked in this area for over 10 years, I have noticed that each rainy season, the incidence of certain kinds of illnesses goes up, resulting in many deaths, but because those affected are highly poor and the area is even neglected no serious study has been conducted to put this in perspective,” Okon added.
Mr. Idem Sunday, a resident, said the challenge of flood in the area was caused by the total absence of drainage system especially on the highway passing through the place.
“From the boundary between the FCT and Nasarawa State at Nyanya check point to Masaka, it will shock you to know that there are no drainages on both sides of the highway. So would you be surprised that there is flooding every time it rains?,Sunday said.
Daily Trust check also revealed that the state government is constructing a refuse dump by the expsressway by City Rock busstop to collect the mountain of refuse that causes traffic gridlock on the road.