ICRC debunks rumors of Kainji Dam failure
By Emmanuel Awosika
The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has debunked rumors of the Kainji Dam failing, saying the dam’s structural integrity is intact.
Earlier, reports of the dam bursting its banks had surfaced online, promoting fears of reduced power supply, as the dam’s hydro-electric power plant contributes over 700 megawatts to the national grid.
However, the ICRC has described the reports as “fake news” and confirmed that the dam is “intact and operating flawlessly.”
The ICRC made the confirmation via a statement released by its Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Chidi Izuwah, on Tuesday.
He said the agency’s attention had been drawn to “very fake news circulating about Kainji Dam” in the media.
According to him, the agency had sent a monitoring team to the dam which carried out through testing and inspection on several parts of the dam.
“We thoroughly inspected the Dam Crest, Reservoir, Embankment Rip Rap, Dam Toe, Toe Drain, Piezometers, Spillway, Stilling Basin, Power House etc.
“Furthermore Kainji has one of the most sophisticated real time inflow prediction and reservoir basin management systems,
This computer based system, with feeder monitors on the upstream and downstream stretches, is designed to ensure world class hydraulics flow management for dam, upstream and downstream safety management,” it explained.
The ICRC boss also indicated what would happen in a hypothetical situation where the dam broke.
He revealed the Kainji Dam currently holds about 16 million litres of water which would be lost if the dam broke.
He said “everything probably some decent distance on both banks of the niger from kainji dam location to the sea will be washed away,” saying the dam’s failure would probably be the biggest disaster to hit Nigeria.
He, however, assured the public that Kainji Dam was safe, urging them to ignore “fake news” about the dam.
He said, “We advised all Nigerians to please kindly check the status of our PPP and concession projects on the ICRC disclosure portal or directly with the Commission.”
