By Hilda Austria/Philippine News Agency
DAGUPAN CITY – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 2nd Pangasinan Engineering District Office has turned over to the Dagupan City government a floodgate situated in Poblacion Oeste, intended to enhance flood mitigation efforts.
Engr. Felix Mamaril, assistant chief of maintenance division of the 2nd Pangasinan Engineering Office, said the floodgate turned over on Thursday was constructed with PHP2.4 million funding from the DPWH.
“It is designed to control the inflow level of seawater from the Pantal River,” he said in an interview Friday.
Mamaril added that there are a total of 16 openings in the city that requires floodgates to control the inflow of water from the river system to the city, but the one in Poblacion Oeste was prioritized being one of the biggest and nearest Pantal River.
Mayor Belen Fernandez, in her Facebook post on Thursday, said the city government has allocated PHP500,000 this year for the construction of floodgates to regulate the outflow or inflow of water at Reyes Street and Barangay 1, among others.
“I hope the people at City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and the City Engineering Office will be trained to operate (floodgates). Floodgates are adjustable and used to control water flow coming from the river. These will ease impact of floods when high tide comes. It will be closed an hour before the expected time for high tide and opened when low tide to lower the surface elevation of water coming from the drainage going to the river,” Fernandez said.
She also thanked the DPWH and 4th District Rep. Christopher de Venecia for their continuous efforts and support to the city.
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