Kano State Government has commenced demolition of illegal shops and plazas built on flood plains at the popular Kantin Kwari Textile market in the state metropolis.
Daily Trust had reported how flooding in the past few days sacked the market with over 250 shops submerged, while textile worth over N200 million was said to have been destroyed.
The traders as well as the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had blamed indiscriminate constructions on waterways as the major cause of the flood.
Subsequently, the state government set up a technical committee to identify and demolish illegal structures in the market.
The demolition of both permanent and temporary structures built on flood plains in the market thereafter commenced on Thursday.
Briefing newsmen during the commencement of the demolition, the chairman of the committee, who doubles as the Commissioner for Ministry of Environment, Dr. Kabiru Ibrahim Getso, said the demolition is in the interest of all and became necessary in order to check flooding at the market.
He said that the illegal structures include shops, public conveniences, restaurants, sachet water factory and generator rooms.
He further revealed that before embarking on the demolition, “the government had conducted a physical assessment of the drainage channels at Kantin Kwari and found out that the flooding occurred as a result of indiscriminate dumping of refuse inside the drains, building structures on flood plains, the topography of the area, with the market situated in a lower area, and the issue of climate change.
“The ministry of environment will conduct a joint meeting with the traders and the leadership of their associations to sensitise them to proper waste management, the devastating effects of illegal building of structures on flood plains and indiscriminate dumping of refuse inside drainage channels and on the middle of the road,” he said.
Getso then appealed to the traders and the public in general to join hands with the state government to safeguard the environment.
The members of the committee present during the demolition include the Commissioner of Works, Idris Wada Saleh, the Managing Director of Kano State Urban Planning and Development Agency (KNUPDA), Arc. Sulaiman Abdulwahab, the Managing Director of KAROTA, Baffa Babba Dan-Agundi, and representatives of the market leadership.
