Chairman, Senate committee on Environment and Ecology, Senator Bukola Saraki, has hinted that the dredging of River Niger will be extended to Jebba in Kwara State in order to check the perennial flood in Patigi and Edu Local Government Areas of the state.

Saraki, who dropped the hint in Patigi and Edu during a sympathy visit to the flooded communities in the two councils, said his committee would ensure timely completion of the project.

He described the massive flooding witnessed in the country recently as a national calamity and assured the victims of his committee's assistance at all times.

Saraki, who is the immediate past governor of the state, said his committee would monitor the distribution of relief materials donated to flood victims in order to guide against diversion.

Earlier, the Etsu of Patigi, Alhaji Ibrahim Chatta Umar, had described the extension of the dredging of River Niger to Jebba as one of the permanent solutions to the problem of flooding in Patigi.

The monarch urged the authorities concerned to expedite action on the establishment of the Hydro Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC).

While thanking Saraki for being the first donor of relief materials to the flood victims, Umar said: "You are familiar with the problem of flooding in this state and you are always concerned with what happened in Patigi."

The monarch added: "As you might be aware, we could recall you played a very vital role in the establishment of HYPPADEC which we people in this part of the country believe will be a sort of permanent solution that the government can do to help us in order to alleviate this flooding problem."

"We have been suffering from it almost annually. So unless we have a commission, we believe this problem of flooding will continue to re-occur and the problem is not on relief alone but permanent solution which a commission of that nature would be able to address.

"For us to have this perennial problem solved, extend the dredging to at least Jebba. It would be one of the permanent solutions that will save us. Our problems are so numerous because every year, people lose farmlands, lose houses. This year's flooding is unprecedented because some villages had to vacate completely 100 per cent," he stressed.

He pointed out that: "The houses were submerged because of the effects of Kainji Dam, Jebba Dam and in the other side Shiroro Dam. The effects of these dams continuously affect us in this part of the state."