Maravi

Floods: what needs to be done?

Floods: what needs to be done?
By Sandra Lombe and pictures by Lovely Kayombo
Sun 04 Apr. 2010, 04:02 CAT

The heavy rainfall patterns seen this year may be coming to an end, succumbing to the natural consequence of weather evolution, but the same can't be said about the trail of destruction it has left.

Disasters caused by heavy rainfall this year have been described in many phrases and words depending on the ‘beating’one has received. But certainly nothing beats the damage left to the crestfallen sprawling compounds of Kuku, Misisi, Chawama and Kanyama among other areas in Lusaka and many other parts of the country.

The levels of disaster are almost generic but Misisi epitomises how, sometimes, God's gift can harm the very beneficiaries.

The situation goes beyond a disaster; it can be called another tsunami or rather a sinking Titanic because the prevailing situation leaves much to be desired. Those that have remained in what they call 'safer' areas don't know to believe they could be in the danger zone and may just wake up to find they are on an island if they don't sink together with their houses. They are basically living in water.

A check after the bursting of the Nangwenya Dam, the place is a deplorable and sad situation, people have just decided to cage themselves for reasons best known to themselves. This is a wake-up call to all the authorities to declare the place a danger zone and immediately evacuate all the remaining families before a catastrophe happens.

One wonders why some people have decided to risk their lives so much as to remain there. With several houses submerged, one wonders why people have remained stubborn and still live in the area.

William Banda who stays near the Ngwenya Dam says any form of assistance or suggestions from the government to help people leave the area is welcome.

He says he decided to remain to look after the house and property after some of his family members relocated to the Independence Stadium camp.

He seems surprised that the water levels almost overnight reached his house, which is almost 10 metres away from the Ngwenya Dam.

"After the first floods we were safe the water was far, after the second floods and the busting of the dam, things have changed, water has covered most parts including the water pipes they are submerged," he says.

"Before last year the water in the dam was about 20 metres away from his house."

But now even his toilet, which is about five metres from the house, is submerged and he has to use the neighbours, which is a bit safer from floods.

Daka also narrated how a young boy drowned as he accompanied his mother to draw water and how another man allegedly threw himself in the dam.

"Up to now they have not retrieved the bodies, the incident happened yesterday (Tuesday). This place is becoming dangerous," he said.

However, he said people were no longer allowed to swim in the dam.

"There are paramilitaries here, they beat if they find you swimming in the dam. People no longer swim here. The dam is so deep,' he says.

He says even the small highland, which is more like a hill has since submerged.
Zesco has since disconnected power to the area where houses are completely submerged.

However, a check revealed that some houses that were not flooded though at risk, still has power and life goes on so does the business in some bars and shops.

While checking the affected areas, Daka nearly drowned as the earth collapsed and almost swallowed him at one of the houses near his uncle's house, which is submerged.

The author and the crew had to pull him out before the place collapsed.

This is the danger that people have decided to live in; they are not scared or worried until water gets into their houses.

At one house, the toilet was almost collapsing but the people said they had to use it till it's gone. They have just put a bag full of soil on the exposed part so that they do not see the feaces.

Both the Ngwenya and Blue water dams are filled to capacity and the land nearby is slowly but steadily becoming soft, an indication that there could be a serious disaster if the people do not move out and both banks burst.

However, life goes on, some people were found washing clothes in the same flood contaminated water.

They don't care to treat the water even when they know that some pit latrines are flooded and faecal matter is in the same water.

To them its life as usual until they are affected directly.

Daka says the place is calm and peaceful.

"They are no thieves, maybe the other areas. How can they come to steal in this water, maybe before the floods got this bad? The only worry is the floods. When one sleeps, they don't know what tomorrow may bring," he says.

He says the other worry is they don't know whether they will wake up the following morning or they will drown if their houses are flooded.

"So we don't sleep too much we have to be on alert," he says.

Recently when the Zambia Red Cross Society (ZRCS) were moving, the first families I met Joyce (no a young girl, with a baby on her back, who claimed to be 20 though she looked much younger than that) of Misisi Kuku area who narrated how her father was attacked by thieves when he decided to remain behind to guard property before the whole family could move.

She said her father was attacked by thieves that broke into the house that he was guarding before the flood situation worsened.

"We just saw water levels rise. At first we thought it would subside and stuck around. But the following morning there was water outside our house was flooded, the water was on ankle level. We decided to move a few things to our relatives after waking up to a rude shock that water was actually getting into our house. We also discovered that water had caused a hole in the wall and it was coming in the house. We decided to move with mum who is lame to our relatives place. Dad decided to go back to check on the other property before we could finally move everything, but thieves came in the night and attacked him," she says.

However, she says the family has moved to a relative’s place nearby and hoped to get back when the water dries.

"Maybe if we were here we could have also been taken to the camp," she says.

The government however, has been relocating the affected people to the Independence Stadium where a camp had been set up.

At the Lusaka camp the situation is different people are seem to be relaxed and enjoying themselves as tents have been given to each family.

Privacy somehow is guaranteed and so is the safety of their property.

However, the government and its partners are not only concerned about the comfort of these people, but also their health that is why the ZRCS has decided to among others distribute condoms.

ZRCS secretary general Charles Mushitu said the society was aware of the dangers of bringing people together hence the decision to distribute the condoms.

He said they did not want the camp to be the bleeding ground of 'anything'.

"We will also sensitise the people on prevention of diarrhoea cases. Prevention of other diseases, we don't want this place to be a bleeding ground of anything," he said.

Guess the condoms will not only help prevent unplanned pregnancies but also prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

One cannot rule out promiscuity in places were they are sexually active people.

The only hope is that the condoms will be used rightly and correctly.

100 kilomtres from the capital city is Kabwe district, which has also been affected by the floods.

The floods have left trails of disaster with houses collapsing among others; this forced the district officials to camp the victims in a Council hall situated near town.

The council hall is one big room with a stage and some families; couples for that matter are accommodated on stage. This means that the private lives of these individuals has been affected.

This also means that at least one family member has to remain behind to guard their space and property all the time.

One wonders why the district authorities did not even use the Pan-African Institute for Development-East and Southern Africa (Paidesa) to accommodate these people as currently it’s vacant.

To make matters worse, this council hall only has one toilet and bathroom, this means that the about 60 families accommodated have to share that.
Imagine what would happen if an emergency in terms of diarrhoea broke out, how would they share the toilet?

However, district commissioner Jonathan Kapungwe said measures had been put in place to ensure that sanitation is taken care of.

He said the 57 families from Makululu relocated to the council hall would move back to their homes soon after the rains.

"We have instructed the council and Lukanga Water and Sewerage company to go and improve the sanitation. Immediately after the rains they (people) can go back. Some have said they want to go back to their homes," he said.

He said the people wanted to go back to their homes to take care of the few iron sheets and buckets they had left behind.

The question is; what is the long-term solution, if these people are to go back, what happens next when the rains start again, are they going to move them to the council hall?

Kapungwe said since the water levels were subsiding in the affected areas the people had expressed interest to go back.

He said a team of experts from Ministry of Health went to Kasanda mine area to put lime in the stagnant water and gave the people chlorine.

He also said officers from Zambia Army, Zambia National Service (ZNS), rural roads unit; DMMU, Kabwe Municipal Council (KMC) and ZCCMIH were to inspect the canal, as it was the main cause of the floods after it was flooded by the rains.

"The major water source is the canal it has been flooded, then we will come up with recommendation (after inspection). The canal was given to the council but the council could not manage it, it was overwhelmed, currently its being managed by the DMMU," he said.

He has directed the council to stop issuing plots in flood-prone areas and identify land where the flood affected people can go to.

In some parts of Southern Province, the case is not different especially in chief Sinazongwe's area where food prices have even been hiked because people cannot go in or out of the area to buy elsewhere.

The flood situation especially in Lusaka calls for the government to just demolish the whole Misisi and Kuku and find alternative high land for the victims.

Labels: FLOODS

posted by MrK @ 2:53 PM