Bayambang gets relief from Agno river project
BAYAMBANG–The construction of the billion pesos Agno and Allied Rivers Urgent Rehabilitation Project (AARURP) funded by the Japanese government saved the town of Bayambang from a disastrous flood when typhoon ‘Florita’ struck last week.
Mayor Leocadio de Vera said that for the first time, the poblacion and the whole of Bayambang were spared from the flood because of the ongoing project being undertaken by the Agno Flood Control Office and the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Only barangay Managos was inundated by waist-deep water, affecting 40 families, he said.
Nevertheless, three persons died, one of who drowned in a creek in barangay Tanungan and two others were electrocuted.
De Vera said that Bayambang is now ready for the floods as there are evacuations areas already designated and built in several areas.
He thanked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the AARURP which not only dredged the shallow Agno river in the Bayambang side but also redirected the flow of water from the Tarlac river towards the Agno river, skirting Bayambang’s poblacion.
Every rainy season, the excess water from these two major rivers usually inundates the town for days, the mayor said.
A floodway that conveys floodwater to the Agno River from the Tarlac river, passing through under the Hector Mendoza Bridge in Alcala, has already been started.
De Vera is confident that flooding in his town will soon be a thing in the past as soon as the project is completed.
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