Makati to fix flood ‘carmageddon’ with four mobile pumps

CHINO Roces Avenue was back to its usual rainy-day self on Tuesday, one of the major thoroughfares in Makati City that went underwater after a brief thunderstorm. INQUIRER PHOTO

A

fter recent flash floods paralyzed traffic in and around the Makati City central business district (CBD) for the nth time, the local government is finally trying a not-so-novel remedy: mobile pumps.

Make that four pumps—or one each for the four major areas that went underwater Tuesday night and caused the latest “carmageddon” that saw motorists and commuters stuck in traffic for hours. It was so bad that no less than Malacañang had to appeal for more patience on the part of the riding public while infrastructure projects are underway to provide long-term solutions.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay on Thursday said the city government would procure an initial batch of four mobile pumps to supplement those being used by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) across the capital.

A meeting he had the previous day with private sector representatives and public works officials identified the four most flood-prone areas in the city—Magallanes, Buendia, Ayala Tunnel and Chino Roces Avenue—which all connect to the CBD.

Binay shared the MMDA’s observation that the existing drainage system in some Makati streets may no longer be adequate to cope with the high volume of rainfall dumped on the metropolis even during brief thunderstorms.

Aside from the procurement of pumps, Binay said the city was also counting on Tripa de Gallina creek to serve its purpose as a flood mitigator. The creek, which spans from Barangay Bangkal to Palanan, was cleared of informal settlers and illegal structures last year.

But he said the recurring flood in Makati could partly be blamed on the clogged waterways outside the city’s jurisdiction.

In a Palace briefing Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said: “I know it’s difficult. None of us are spared. Even government employees and officials go through the same difficulties. We all would like to have a solution to all these concerns.”

“[The solution] does not come immediately because it will take some time to really improve all these systems, but we are there now,” he said. “As in any infrastructure project, it will take some time to finish it but once we finish all these, it will better our system, our waterways. It will minimize the flooding in the areas concerned.”

The Aquino administration has been taking a beating on social media over the recurring commuter nightmare. Complaints poured in particularly about the flooding Tuesday on Ayala and Makati Avenues, roads known to go underwater only during major storms or long rainy spells. Maricar B. Brizuela and Christian V. Esguerra