Uniform drainage eyed for SRP

CEBU, Philippines - Following Thursday’s heavy flooding caused by tropical storm “Mario,” Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella yesterday said he would author a legislation setting a standard drainage design for all South Road Properties locators and developers.

“That (flooding) was a wake-up call and eye opener for us that there should be a kind of legislation that would put in place a standard on drainage systems so that each locators will have an interconnected approach. It would not be different from others and would not be isolated from the rest so that the flow of water can be interconnected,” he said.

SRP Manager Roberto “Bu” Varquez also said they are planning to develop a master drainage plan for SRP in mitigating flooding in the prime property.

“Flooding is not good for SRP because in a way it will affect our marketing strategies, considering that we are selling the lots,” he said.

Portions of the SRP and the four-lane South Coastal Road were submerged in knee-deep rainwater the other day, prompting the City Traffic Operations Management to open a perimeter road redirecting traffic flow away from the Mambaling access road, which was heavily flooded.

The volume of water that day measured 60 millimeters even for only two hours of rainfall, which was four times higher than the 15 mm capacity of the SRP drainage culverts.

Varquez’s office, together with the Office of the Building Official and the City Department of Engineering and Public Works, has yet to identify an ideal design for the SRP’s drainage system.

Varquez said an additional 36-inch culvert would supplement the existing 25-inch culvert, which SM Prime Holdings pledging to provide infrastructure materials.

He said SM also assured to augment its canals to control the flow of rainwater to the South Coastal Road.

Varquez said SRP developers would also be required to install holding tanks or cisterns as precautionary measure against heavy flooding.

“Required na sa balaud nga every development should have its own cistern or tanks to hold the water before releasing or disposing rainfall water to the sea,” he said.—Kristine B. Quintas/RHM (FREEMAN)