CEBU, Philippines - The National Irrigation Administration plans to fill the Mantayupan River sinkhole with boulders and cover it with concrete slab to allow the river to take its original route again.
NIA-7 Regional Manager Diosdado Rosales said this undertaking would cost at least P450,000.
NIA’s report states that the occurence of the sinkhole has affected the Mantayupan Communal Irrigation System (MCIS) in Barili town.
It explains that the appearance of the sinkhole caused a “draining effect” wherein the water from the river flows into the sinkhole, follows an underground waterway and being discharged downstream of the intake at approximately 15 meters below the intake elevation of MCIS.
As a result, the farmer beneficiaries whose rice farms are located downstream and dependent on the water coming from the said rivers suddenly found themselves without water.
When the sinkhole appeared in July this year, the municipal government of Barili tried to fix the problem by dumping filing materials into the sinkhole but failed to completely cover the hole.
Then, they decided to temporarily reroute the river by placing sandbags and excavating the right bank portion to return the flow of water back into the original route of the river.
NIA states that such solution is only temporary and one flashflood can easily wash out the sandbags in place.
The MCIS was constructed in 1985 with the Mantayupan River as its primary source of water.
Upon its completion in 1985, the system has the following irrigation facilities, namely diversion works, irrigation canal and canal structures.
MCIS covers the barangays of Campangga, Daro and Napo with a total service area of 170 hectares with 155 farmers as beneficiaries.
It is one of the biggest irrigation systems in the province contributing to the rice self-sufficiency level of Cebu with an average yield of 95 cavans per hectare.
The beneficiary, Barili Rice Irrigators’ Association is also one of the most active and most productive associations in Cebu.
In 2011, it garnered the Most Outstanding Irrigation Association Award in both national and provincial levels. — (FREEMAN)