MANILA, Philippines — Over P109 million worth of damage to irrigation facilities were caused by separate earthquakes that rattled Eastern Visayas and the Caraga region in November and December.
The National Irrigation Authority (NIA) on Thursday said that based on a partial report conducted on December 13, damage was estimated at P109,493,000.
NIA added that the separate earthquakes have affected a total of 7,241 hectares of agricultural land and 5,424 farmer-beneficiaries.
In a statement, the NIA said that its Caraga Regional Office’s partial assessment estimated the cost of damage caused by the magnitude 7.6 (later reported to be 7.4) earthquake that hit the region in December to reach P109,447,000.
A total of 18 irrigation projects covering an area of 6,970 hectares and 5,353 farmer-beneficiaries were affected, the agency added.
Meanwhile, the magnitude 5.2 earthquake that struck Eastern Visayas in November was estimated to have caused damage worth P46,000, affecting 71 farmers tilling 271 hectares of farmland.
“At present, NIA is conducting an evaluation on how to effectively address the challenge of repairing the affected irrigation systems/projects to secure unhampered delivery of irrigation service to the farmers.”