DENR field officials ordered to monitor geohazard areas
As precautionary measures and preparations for emergency situations like floods and landslides, field officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau were recently directed by Secretary Lito Atienza to monitor critical mine structures and geohazard areas all throughout the country.
The DENR press report disclosed that Atienza also instructed the DENR field officials to create a joint quick response team and to coordinate closely with local government units (LGUs), including the provincial and municipal disaster coordinating councils and other organizations who render immediate respond to emergencies arising from both natural and man-made phenomena.
Secretary Atienza likewsie advised people living along river banks and below mountain slopes to be constantly prepared to evacuate to safer places in case of continuous rains.
“Heavy rains induce swelling of rivers and softening of the soils, which trigger landslides,” Atienza said.
“Those who are living near the mine site or in areas identified as highly susceptible to geologic hazards must have proper information so that they can better protect themselves,” the DENR secretary said.
Critical mine structures include tailings dams, waste dumps and small-scale mining areas, while geohazard areas refer to areas that are susceptible to landslides, floods, liquefaction, ground subsidence and other ground instabilities, the DENR press report explained.
The Geohazard assessment conducted by the DENR has identified the following top ten areas prone to landslides: Benguet, Mt. Province, Kalinga-Apayao and Ifugao in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR); Abra in Region 1; Nueva Viscaya in Region 2; Marinduque in Region 4B; Catanduanes in Region 5; Cebu in Region 7; and Southern Leyte in Region 8.
The country’s top ten flood-prone areas identified by the DENR also include the following: Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and Bulacan, all of Region 3; Pangasinan and Ilocos Norte of Region 1; Maguindanao in ARMM; Metro Manila; North Cotabato in Region 12; and Mindoro Oriental in Region 4B.
Region 13, along with Region 2, Region 4A, Region 5, Region 8 and Region 11, were among the regions in the country’s eastern seaboard that were given the priority concern under the DENR’s geohazard assessment activity, the DENR press report disclosed.(PIA6/T.Villavert)