Mahmoud Abba Phd
The scale and magnitude of destructions caused by excessive run-off from rainwater in Kano city within the last few weeks are not news to anybody. We are witnessing how, whenever there is continuous down pour for some hours, almost every road, street, market and residential neighbourhood in the metropolis become heavily submerged by overland flow. This inflicts a lot of pains to the city’s residents as they suffer heavy traffic gridlock, loss of lives, properties and other valuables.
Climate change, lack of adequate drainages, blockage of the city’s waterways and culverts by waste materials, can easily be blamed as the culprits of the destructive urban flooding. While some of these may be guilty of the offence; however more than any other thing else, systematic disappearance of the city’s major urban flood water sinks is responsible for the problem. Because even with adequate and good drainage channels and culverts; there will still be flooding, if the water has nowhere to naturally percolate or is not properly dammed for subsequent utilization.
In the last one decade, the city’s authorities have increasingly exhibited significantly high level of disregard to the principle of Environmental Acceptability when it comes to erecting buildings especially for commercial uses. Many building structures in the metropolis are not environmentally sustainable because they were sited right on the existing green spaces such as parks, gardens and other forms of urban greeneries. While other building structures were erected on vacant lands such as the premises of mosques, parking spaces, market lanes and squares, and premises of government offices. These have not only distorted the original city’s plan, but in many instances were injurious to the physical environment due to the severe consequences they pose to the city’s natural and artificial drainage systems.
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The examples of reckless destructions of the city’s floodwater sinks in the name of development are numerous. In the year 2016 we witnessed the disheartening conversion of the last and the largest two of the 19 city parks and gardens at Kundila and Tarauni quarters into commercial, educational and religious uses. This was then followed by the allocation of some portions of the Eid ground at Kofar Mata for construction of shopping complexes. Subsequently, the city wall’s vegetation and ponds between Qofar Famfo and Kofar Gadon Kaya, and around Kofar Ruwa were cleared and in their places shopping structures, mini stadium and filling stations were built. The premises of Kano Radio Corporation at Takuntawa, the frontage of Gidan Zakka, a section of Kano State Polytechnic, a segment of the Ministry for Rural and Community Development were all cleared and built-up.
A substantial part of the “Promise ditch,” behind Jujin Labbu Stores at Rijiyar Zaki area was already filled-up for residential and commercial uses. Another ditch at Kuntau area behind Rijihar Zaki Motor Park was completely reclaimed and converted into residential plots. Not to speak of the structures arbitrarily built on lanes, squares, public conveniences, entrance gates, parking spaces and mosques at Kwari, Wambai, Rimi and Sabon Gari markets.
It is clear that the authorities are hiding behind the motto of physical and economic developments to convert every available open space to buildings. They deliberately ignore the fact that open spaces constitute an important physical component of every city in the world. They pay no heed to the various ecological services provided by the green areas. These include their functions as wind breakers, reduction of raindrop impact, and improvement of the infiltration capacity of the soils thereby minimizing overland flow and ultimately recharging the underground water reservoir of the city.
For many years, all words of admonishment from academicians and professionals fell on deep ears. The citizenry of the city watched helplessly as they have to “drink the gruel the way it is mixed for them.” Now the entire metropolis is paying the heavy price of these environmentally unsustainable physical projects.
Mahmud Abba, PhD
mabba.geog@buk.edu.ng
1/09/2022
