Floodwater subsides, thick water hyacinth removed in S Philippines

Floodwater subsides, thick water hyacinth removed in S Philippines
The number of villages submerged in floodwater here went down Sunday as the military removed more than 40 percent of thick water hyacinth that clogged the country's second largest river.

Col. Prudencio Asto, spokesman for the military's 6th Division, said by telephone that troops and volunteers have already remove 8 of 20 hectares water hyacinth that clogged the Mindanao River, also known as Rio Grande de Mindanao.

"Right now, only 15-17 low lying villages out of 33 are submerged in flood waters. We hope this will continue. However, our problem (is that) at night tons of water lilies from the marsh are massing towards the river," said Asto.

"We have to do something before it's too late. The entire city will sink forever in the next ten years if we could not find solution. Imagine, for a little rainfall, waters overflow in low lying villages," he added.

The Mindanao River, the second largest river system in the country and second longest river with a length of approximately 373 kilometers, runs through several provinces in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao.

The death toll caused by days of heavy rains has reached 10, and the number of displaced families in the region reached 129,000, a report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

Editor: Xiong Tong

English.news.cn   2011-06-19 12:15:06 FeedbackPrintRSS
COTABATO CITY, Philippines, June 19 (Xinhua)