Huge boulders still block Negros waterways

RIVER MENACE These huge boulders blocking a river in a populated area in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, are carried down by floodwaters from the slopes of Mt. Kanlaon at the height of Typhoon “Tino” (Kalmaegi) on Nov. 4. Public works personnel are having a hard time removing the boulders in the absence of equipment that can do the work. —PHOTO FROM SALTA CANLAON

BACOLOD CITY—Huge boulders that have blocked waterways in two localities on Negros Island following the onslaught of Typhoon “Tino” (international name: Kalmaegi) on Nov. 4 would take time to remove, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said.

Noel Ilao, director of the DPWH Bureau of Equipment, said on Friday that their personnel were working double time to remove the large boulders now lodged on the waterways of Canlaon City in Negros Oriental and La Castellana town in Negros Occidental to prevent floods from hitting communities along these areas.

However, since the DPWH has no equipment to remove these boulders, the agency would need to buy stronger heavy equipment to hasten the work, said Ilao.

In the meantime, the agency is building mini dams along the blocked waterways as flood deterrents, he added.

Ilao was on Negros Island on Friday with a DPWH team and inspected the areas along the foot of Mt. Kanlaon, which straddles localities in the two Negros provinces, to determine the extent of the debris, rocks and boulders that needed to be removed.

Difficulties

Some of the rocks that were washed down by lahar that flowed down the slopes of Kanlaon during the recent typhoons were as big as sports utility vehicles, Ilao noted.

“They are so huge, it is difficult to remove them. That is why the DPWH will have to buy stronger heavy equipment, like a 60-toner bulldozer and a two cubic-meter bucket capacity excavator to hasten the work,” he said.

Given the equipment constraints, “the clearing operation will take time,” Ilao said.

Tino has caused widespread destruction in the Visayas, with Cebu and Negros Island accounting for most of the deaths, at 150 and 101, respectively.