Bacolod diversion channel to be operational by December

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — Mayor Greg Gasataya announced on Friday that the PHP 152 million diversion channel along Burgos Street is targeted to be fully operational by the second week of December, if not sooner.

This development came after the mayor visited the flood control project in the Reclamation Area to personally check its progress and push for its timely completion.

Gasataya shared that the project is currently 89 percent complete, according to engineers from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Almana Construction and Development Corp.

He said engineers expect to finish the inlet and deliver the sluice gate by the second week of November, with installation scheduled to take two weeks after delivery.

Last August, Gasataya met with the DPWH and Almana to finalize agreements resolving design and equipment issues and to begin inlet works at Mambuloc Creek by Aug. 27.

The DPWH has completed engineering plans for a coastline outfall, while the city government has committed to providing a flap gate and sluice gate to prevent seawater backflow.

The channel is designed to redirect water flow from Mambuloc Creek and nearby drainages, reducing flooding in adjacent barangays.

Areas near SM City Bacolod and the downtown district are also expected to benefit from reduced flood risk.

The project, launched in 2023, is part of a broader flood mitigation strategy that includes future diversion channels throughout the city.

The Reclamation Area near a shopping mall experienced gutter-level flooding during heavy rainfall on Tuesday, prompting online reactions from netizens, with some questioning the status of the city’s flood control project.

The city has borrowed a truck-mounted pump unit from the DPWH regional office to help drain floodwater while construction of the diversion channel continues.

“We will continue to monitor the work closely until the diversion channel is doing its job to carry water out to sea and away from our streets,” Gasataya said.