GOVERNOR Floydelia Diasen reported P80 million in damages to provincial agriculture due to El Niño.
Damage to livestock is estimated to reach P8 million in the province. “We still have to verify the amount,” Diasen said.
“The Chico River is drying up, even our mini hydros here [are no longer functioning],” Diasen said.
Diasen said aside from the water level at the Chico River decreasing, the operations of mini hydros in the area are also on the verge of a full stop.
The most extensive of these rivers in the region is the Chico. Its headwaters are located at the northern slopes of Mount Data.
Chico flows eastward across Mount Data before taking a northeasterly turn towards Bontoc in the Mountain Province.
It continues in its northeasterly course to and through the province of Kalinga, where it is fed by the Tanudad, Pasil, and Saltan rivers.
From Kalinga, it flows into Cagayan province, where it drains into the Rio Grande de Cagayan.
The mini hydro plant in Mangali, Tandudan is low on water forcing its shut down.
Diasen said the rice paddies and terraces have also dried up.
She, however, has not called for the declaration of a state of calamity in the province waiting for more reports from Kalinga municipalities.
“We are doing the rounds in the barangays to assess the damages,” Diasen said.(Ma. Elena Catajan)