{"id":65129,"date":"2025-04-30T14:56:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T14:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=65129"},"modified":"2025-04-30T14:56:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T14:56:06","slug":"fcta-acts-fast-to-shield-usuma-dam-from-urban-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/04\/30\/fcta-acts-fast-to-shield-usuma-dam-from-urban-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"FCTA Acts Fast to Shield Usuma Dam from Urban Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Adenike Lawal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Federal Capital Territory Administration is moving swiftly to review the Usuma District master plan following rising concerns over possible contamination of Abuja\u2019s vital water source, the Usuma Dam.<\/p>\n<p>A site inspection led by the Department of Development Control has revealed alarming levels of unregulated development encroaching on the dam\u2019s buffer zone, prompting urgent calls for action.<\/p>\n<p>Tpl. Mukhtar Galadima, Director of Development Control, said the inspection brought together key agencies to assess real-time threats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe risk is immediate. We may see heavy construction behind the dam within two years. If we wait, we lose,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n<p>Galadima called on planning and water authorities to define strict safety zones and update existing layouts to meet current environmental and urban realities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf development must happen, it must follow enforceable rules,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Engr. Mohammed Danimoh of the FCDA added that the area\u2019s sloped terrain makes it prone to water pollution through surface runoff.<\/p>\n<p>He raised concerns about the financial and operational sustainability of proposed pumping-based sewage systems.<\/p>\n<p>The visit also covered flood-prone Lokogoma where fresh warnings were issued to developers rebuilding on waterways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose structures will go. We will not allow disasters to be rebuilt,\u201d Galadima declared.<\/p>\n<p>The FCTA\u2019s intervention signals a renewed push for responsible urban growth and protection of public health in Nigeria\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Adenike Lawal The Federal Capital Territory Administration is moving swiftly to review the Usuma District master plan following rising concerns over possible contamination of Abuja\u2019s vital water source, the Usuma Dam. A site inspection led by the Department of Development Control has revealed alarming levels of unregulated development encroaching on the dam\u2019s buffer zone, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":65130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177,172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-65129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abuja-reports","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65131,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65129\/revisions\/65131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}