Warning: Avoid building houses in flood-prone areas
People should check with their municipalities about the legality or feasibility of land before erecting structures.
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has urged the public to refrain from building in areas that are prone to flooding.
According to DWS communications specialist Marcus Monyakeni, the country has experienced heavy rains in recent months which resulted in unfortunate incidents of flooding.
“We have witnessed the misery and suffering of communities whose households were destroyed or washed away, and there was also loss of lives due to the floods.
“This added more sorrow to most of the vulnerable communities who are still battling to cope with the pandemic.
“The affected communities also include informal settlements which are desperately looking for shelter.”
Monyakeni said it is not advisable for people to erect shelters or build structures in areas the municipality has demarcated or reserved to discharge the base flood.
“It is also illegal to erect structures on weirs belonging to DWS. A weir is meant to allow for overflow when the dam reaches its full capacity.
“Building on land prone to flooding or meant to mitigate such a flood is a high risk because climate-related disasters are incidents that happen inadvertently.
“Therefore, it is of importance that we look back at what happened during the flooding and refrain from committing the same error of illegally building structures on either the flood base or dam weirs,” said Monyakeni.
He shared that some informal settlements are built on wetlands, causing interference with nature and river health system, saying the act is illegal, irrational and irresponsible.
“These challenges can be mitigated through improved management of infrastructure by the municipalities in managing infrastructure, especially stormwater drains, as well as enforcing by-laws relating to illegal settlements on municipal land.
“It is, therefore, advisable for people to check with their municipalities regarding the legality or feasibility of the land before erecting settlement structures and settling there,” said Monyakeni.
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