BALIWAG, Bulacan, May 16 (PNA) –News of recent devastating earthquakes has triggered new calls for the immediate repair of the aging Angat dam, which according to experts is sitting along the West Valley fault line.
While trying not to sound alarmists, a group of civil engineers on Saturday urged the new owners and operators of the aging Angat dam to immediately start its fortification and rehabilitation.
The engineers made the call after talking with several local newsmen in a meeting in Barangay San Jose here.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has confirmed that Angat dam is nestling along the West Valley fault line.
“They should do it now before the terrible earthquake strikes,” one of the engineers said.
The engineers said that this booming town is one of those that will be severely devastated once the 47 years old rock-fill dam could collapse if jolted by a powerful Magnitude 7.2 earthquake.
The location of the dam, which lies atop the mountains of Norzagaray, Bulacan, makes it equally dangerous because its stockpiled waters will rampage its way towards low lying towns in a matter of minutes, according to the structural engineers.
They reminded K-Water, the new owner and operator of Angat dam, that even President Benigno Aquino III is deeply concerned on the structural integrity of the aging Angat dam and has long been supporting the calls of Bulacan officials, headed by Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado, not only for the immediate rehabilitation and fortification of Angat dam but also the other big dams in the province like Angat Dam Afterbay Regulator dam, more popularly known as “Bustos Dam.”
Alvarado has earlier said that “unless the rehabilitation and strengthening of the aging Angat dam commences, it will always be like the proverbial “sword of Damocles” hanging over the heads of the people of Bulacan.
Meanwhile, Alvarado and Vice Governor Daniel Fernando expressed optimism that the rehabilitation of the Bustos Dam, a rubber-type irrigation dam, will also trigger socio-economic boom in the municipalities where the dam is situated.
Alvarado said that according to National Irrigation Administration (NIA) regional director Josephine Salazar, the bidding for the rehabilitation of Bustos dam has already been conducted last week.
He said that new rubber gates, complete with sprinkles to make it more heat-resistant, will replace the old, brittle and punctured with holes rubber gates.
The repair of the Bustos rubber dam will cost Php 1 billion, according to NIA.
Alvarado said that aside from the rehabilitation of the rubber irrigation dam, the site will also be developed into a major tourism destination complete with water sports facilities, zip line and souvenir shops. (PNA)