How structures on flood plain areas risk collapse
Structures worth billions of naira located on flood plain areas in Abuja are at risk of being washed away by torrential rainfall in Abuja, Daily Trust reports.
This looming calamity has been a cause of concern for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration who have warned against any form of development on flood plain areas or lands earmarked for green development especially at this rainfall season.
The warning has been necessitated by recent incidences of building collapse in Asokoro, Gwarimpa and Utako during the critical period of the rainy season.
The FCT is one of the cities prone to flood although the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) predicted normal onset and cessation of rainfall in many parts of Nigeria in 2018, states including the FCT are expected to experience late onset.
Flood disaster can cause havoc in any environment including loss of human lives as well as properties and building experts have identified building of houses on flood plain areas and water channels as the cause of this disaster.
A town planner Alhaji Umar Shuaibu told Daily Trust why it is dangerous to carry out development on flood plain areas.
Shuaibu said the implication of erecting structures on flood plain areas is that because the earth on such surface is not stable, most development carried out on flood plain area failures.
“We have incidences in Abuja where building collapse took place and those areas are said to be flood plain areas,” Shuaibu who is also the coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) said.
When asked how a flood plain area can be identified, Shuaibu said, “Whenever a developer wants to acquire a plot or any land, he is advised to go to the Development Control so that he can have access to the Land use provision of the area because almost all the flood plain areas of this city are earmarked in the Land use as green areas,” he said.
“If any developer sees that the plot he wants to acquire is in an area that is earmarked for green development, are subject to structural then he should back off otherwise he is at risk if anything should happen in future” he said.
Shuaibu said so many issues had occurred in the past as the original layout of the Abuja Master plan didn’t identify these areas for development but for green areas adding that about 33 percent in the land use plan of the Abuja master plan is meant for greening as these areas are classified as flood plain areas.
“Green area is an undevelopable area whereby the ground is subject to earth movement,” he said.
He further called on developers not to be desperate whenever they intend to carry out a development within a plot adding that they should carry out the due diligence by acquiring from the right authorities the state of the purposed plot.