The Legazpi City Government has intensified desilting and dredging operations along major rivers to improve water flow and reduce flooding in about half of the city’s 70 barangays ahead of the rainy season, Mayor Hisham Ismail said.
The ongoing flood mitigation initiative covers the Macabalo and Tibo rivers, where personnel have been removing accumulated silt, sand, gravel and garbage to restore the waterways’ capacity to carry stormwater.
Desilting operations along the Macabalo River began in Barangays Tula-Tula, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19 and 20, and are continuing toward the river mouth. The City Government, with the assistance of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Bicol, removed a sandbar that had obstructed the river’s natural flow.
“ We can now see that water is flowing freely after we removed the sandbar at the mouth of the Macabalo River. Before, the water would stagnate, but now it can flow continuously toward the outlet ,” Ismail said.
Similar desilting and dredging activities are also underway along the Tibo River, covering Barangays Bitano, Orosite and Peñaranda up to the pumping station in Barangay San Roque.