MANILA, Philippines–The Navotas City government has recently inaugurated three new pumping stations to help alleviate the city’s flood problem.
The three new pumping stations, located at F. Ablola Street, Vadeo 6, and Apugan in Barangay Tangos, bring to 37 the number of pumping stations, which channel excess water from the Malabon-Navotas River into the Manila Bay during heavy rains and storms.
Navotas Mayor John Reynald Tiangco said the pumping stations will also help drain water away during extremely high tides.
“We always ensure that the residents and the operators of these pumping stations are always on alert during these situations to avoid flooding,” Tiangco said in a statement.
The city government is constructing two more pumping stations in Barangay (village) Sipac-Almacen to bring up the number of pumping stations in the city to 39.
Pumping stations are vital to keep floodwaters away from Navotas City. The breakdown of two pumping stations in Barangays Bangkulasi and North Bay Boulevard-South during the height of torrential monsoon rains in August 2012 was cited by the city government as the reason for flooding in the city.
The pumping stations were repaired and operational after the monsoon rains, Tiangco said, while also reporting that preventive maintenance works were being conducted on all of the city’s operating pumping stations.
Aside from the pumping stations, Tiangco revealed that two sections of the Navotas Mega Dike project from Barangay Bagumbayan North to Navotas West has been completed, at a cost of P90 million.
The mega dike project, being constructed in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways, aims to build a seawall along the city’s barangays facing Manila Bay to prevent storm surges and high tides from flooding parts of the city.