Plan to install CCTV cameras along rivers OKd

CITY OF MALOLOS—The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has approved the Bulacan government’s request to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras along the province’s waterways to monitor water levels and serve as early warning device for floods, Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado said.

Alvarado said the MWSS would pay for the installation of the first six cameras in the Angat, Ipo and Bustos Dams and along the Matictic River, Sta. Maria River and a waterway in Candaba, Pampanga.

The cameras will feed images to a monitoring system set up at the command center of the provincial disaster risk reduction and management council office in this city.

Provincial officials earlier said the flooding in downstream areas of Bulacan due to heavy rains dumped by Typhoon “Pedring” was aggravated by water releases from the three dams.

Water released from Angat Dam is caught by the Ipo Dam before it drains into the Matictic River and flows into Bustos Dam. The water released by Bustos Dam flows into the Angat River before draining out into the Manila Bay.

Villages in towns along the Angat River experience floods whenever the river overflows and when water is released from the dams. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon