Marikina mayor stumped by rise in river's water level

During their inspection of the Marikina River to discover why the waterway's level had risen after just a few scattered showers, the Marikina City government was surprised to discover that there was a private reclamation project upriver.

"Meron kaming napapansing abnormality," said Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro in Mariz Umali's Monday report on 24 Oras.

"Napansin lang namin ngayon ang bagal ng water current. Ang duda namin na baka nagkaroon ng ilang mga obstruction sa Marikina River, at kumitid ito," Teodoro added.

"Mahalaga ang pagagos ng tubig. Kung di aagos ang tubig, at mananatili siya sa ilang lugar, at meron pang ulan, dadami ito at aapaw ito."

City authorities measured the river's current and found that it was indeed flowing slower than usual - 2.3 meters per second instead of the ideal 4 meters per second.

A Marikina River Rescue boat was thus sent upriver to discover and clear the likely obstruction.

It was at this point that they discovered that a private development company was in the middle of a reclamation project on the river, just past the Marcos Highway, right on the border between Markina, Quezon City, and Pasig City.

As Markina had issued no permit for such a project, the city was attempting to learn if the developer had secured a permit from the other cities.

Teodoro had also written to the Department of Public Works and Highways to protest against the project.

GMA News had sought comment from the private developer, but had yet to receive a reply as of posting time.

Meanwhile, from a high of 14.7 meters during the morning, the Marikina River's water level dropped to 14.1 meters by 7 p.m., safely below the First Alarm on the river's water level. — DVM, GMA News