Writing By Ismai’l Adamu; Editing By Godwin Duru
Hundreds of displaced residents from six communities in Kankia Local Government Area of Katsina State have pleaded for help from the state government following a flood which destroyed dozens of houses in the communities.
The flood which was caused by an overflow of Kankia dam following the breakage of its banks also washed away farmlands in the outskirts of the town
A flood victim, Muhammadu Zankolaji, said his house was completely demolished by the flood as the dam emptied its water into the villages during a prolonged rainfall.
“Where I am standing right now used to be my room, the whole house was demolished by the flood which occured as a result of the substandard work done by the person that handled the rehabilitation project.
“Our former Senator who is also from Kankia handled the rehabilitation project but he did not complete the project, he only started then abandoned it halfway.
“Now we are bearing the consequences, we have been displaced by the flood and most of us are taking refuge in the houses of our relations inside the town, we need urgent assistance from government.
“Mattresses and blankets are not what we need right now, we want the government to please assist us with building materials because we have no place to stay”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Acting Ward Head of Layi community, Malam AbdulKareem Musa, explained that most of the victims are less privileged persons who are now stranded as they lack the means to rebuild their houses.
“This flood was mainly caused by the overflow of Kankia dam, when the rain came there was no dam to contain the water, so it overflowed into our houses, all the occupants of these houses are now displaced”, he said.
One of the displaced persons, Aisha Hassan, lamented that the flood has completely demolished her house, urging the state government to assist them temporarily with shelters or building materials to reconstruct their houses.
A farmer, Malam Iliyasu Ahmed, of Unguwar Kanawa in Kankia, narrated how a section of the dam’s bank broke, allowing water to overflow into communities that include Cediya, Dawa, Kafin Dangi and Layi in the outskirts of Kankia.
“This dam was constructed in 1975 and since then residents of the surrounding villages have used it for dry season farming, the dam was very deep and it stores water from one rainy season to another.
“But when its banks collapsed, the water was emptied into our farms, our legume crops, rice and vegetables were washed away leading to huge loss for the farmers”
“These farmers rely on their farm produce for food and trading but now they have lost their produce to the flood, from the time the dam broke, our farmers now go to Bindawa or Sagawa dam to rent farms and engage in their farming activities”, Ahmed explained.
Another resident, Ya’u Ado, who is a farmer from Kawan Dawa village in Galadima ‘A’ Ward of Kankia, said in the past the dam was used for dry season farming until it lost its capacity to retain water.
“This dam used to be the main source of livelihood for the people in the communities around Kankia because they used it for dry season farming.
“They used to farm tomato, pepper, onions, watermelon, sugarcane, lettuce and other vegetable and legume crops for home consumption and sale.
“Myself, I was a black market fuel vendor in Bakori but when I realized that farming was more profitable I abandoned the fuel business and came back home to become a farmer, others came back from Lagos and other southern states to engage in farming here.
“Now because of the dam breakage we have become jobless, we even lost houses and farm produce, we want to the government to help us to recover these losses made as a result of the of the unfortunate incident”, Ado said.
Isma’il Adamu
