The Chairman, Lagos House of Assembly  Committee on Environment (Parastatals), Rasheed Shabi, has called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to charge the Office of Drainage Services in the state to clear all drainage channels and ensure proper refuse disposal.

The lawmaker made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday.

Shabi, representing Lagos Mainland II, said the clearing of major canals across the state should be intensified to prevent flooding.

The lawmaker also called on the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development to clear illegal structures built on setbacks of canals across the state.

He equally urged the local governments and local council development areas to inculcate in people the habit of regular clearing of secondary drainage channels across the state.

While saying that drainages and canals had not been properly channeled, he said, “Though the causes of the flood have been natural and man-made, there is a need for the Ministries, Departments and Agencies to be proficient in their duties.

“The recent torrential rain especially over the weekend in the state made residents lose their properties.

“I want to urge the Ministry of the Environment to explain what they have done in the last one year and most importantly people should stop dumping refuse in drainage channels

“The enforcement agencies should also clamp down on people engaging in indiscriminate dumping of refuse,” he said.

Shabi disclosed that indiscriminate erection of buildings near water banks should be looked into stating that the situation must be urgently addressed to avert further disaster.

On Sunday, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos Waste Management Authority, Muyiwa Gbadegesin, said the agency’s Marine Waste Unit had commenced manual evacuation of waste from drainage channels along Kusenla Street in Ikate-Elegushi.

He lamented in a post on X that “Some unscrupulous residents have been dumping waste in these drainage channels for some time, leading to heavy flooding whenever it rains.”