Authorities have removed water hyacinths and shanties of squatters at the Napindan bridge of the C-6 road dike to unclog the channel and prevent a repeat of the September flooding caused by storm Ondoy.
The Department of Public Works and Highways worked on sections of Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City and Lupang Arenda in neighboring Taytay, Rizal, blamed for blocking the mouth of the only waterway draining Laguna Lake.
“Right after Ondoy, the efficiency in the flow of the water along Napindan River was only 50 percent, but when majority of the obstructions have been removed, the flow of water improved to 80 percent,” said Public Works-Metro Manila director Edilberto Tayao.
He said floodwaters flow from the Marikina River to the Manggahan Floodway in Pasig, for temporary impounding. Water is diverted to the Napindan Channel that connects to the Pasig River, moving down to Manila Bay and out to South China Sea.
Public Works Undersecretary for Luzon Romeo Momo said apart from the cleaning up of the heavily-silted river, the department also helps relocate 70 families at the Taytay border.
Momo said they would coordinate with local government officials and other national agencies led by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council to relocate the squatters.
The presence of obstructions impedes the flow of water, slowing down discharge from Laguna de Bay to the Napindan Channel along Taytay and Taguig City leading to elevated floodwater levels.
The inundation has enlarged the 90,000-square kilometer lake to almost 100,000 square kilometers, with a sprawl reaching as far as Mabuhay City Subdivision in Barangay Mamatid, Cabuyao, Laguna, who experienced knee-deep waters after only a few days of continuous rain.
The normal water level at the Laguna Lake is 10.5 meters, but at 11 a.m. of Nov. 5, the level has reached 13.7 meters or 3.2 meters above its limit.
Regional director Bonifacio Sequit said work in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) was round the clock to clean up Napindan River.
The department, with the help of the Metro Manila Development Authority, started removing the debris after storm Santi as part of the ongoing flood control of the government.
They used three cranes with clump shell loaded on board trucks and backhoes to speed up the chore.
“There remain patches [plants] floating on the river but these could easily be removed because the base has already weakened and they just go along with the water current,” Seguit said. Joel E. Zurbano
