Residents of Shagari Quarters and Maidile communities in Kano metropolis have lamented how erosion is threatening their areas.
A big gutter believed to be flowing from Sharada and Sabuwar Gandu industrial areas is not only eroding the area but also wrecking great havoc to their buildings, the residents said.
“This problem has been threatening our communities for long. Just recently, two houses collapsed in the area because of the water eroding the area”, one of the residents, Aminu Babba, lamented.
He said the waste flowing from leather industries through the gutter polluted the environment and, sometimes, people find it difficult to sleep at night.
Babba added that, “We are appealing to the federal and state governments to come to our aid by addressing this problem. In fact, there is a small forest behind the erosion site that criminals now use as cover to carry out atrocities including taking drugs and raping women.
“We have reported the case to the state Ministry of Environment more than 10 years ago, and they promised to come and see the place, up till now, nobody has come.
“They started a rehabilitation work from Tukuntawa but terminated it at Sabuwar Gandu without reaching our area.”
Chronicle, however, observed that residents add to the problem as they also dump refuse in the gutter, an act believed to be contributing to the deterioration of the situation.
When contacted, the state Ministry of Environment said it was aware of the erosion problem and had been working on it through many interventions.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Garba Saleh Ahmad, said, “We have already started working on building the secondary wastewater treatment plants that will end the problem of industrial waste in communities.
“It is a multi-million naira project with three treatment plants to be stationed in Sharada, Challawa and Bompai, and was supported by the federal government through its ecological funds.”
The permanent secretary also said that the first phase of the work has already been completed, adding that upon completion, industrial waste will be treated in the three plants to be channeled from the industries through pipes already purchased by the state.
Dr Ahmad, therefore, called on the communities to exercise patience while the work was going on, adding that they could also contribute their quota by avoiding the dumping of refuse in the drainage.
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