Avoid building in areas prone to flooding
In most cases, residents of these flood-prone areas are among the poorest and most vulnerable.
Avoid building in areas prone to flooding:
The country has experienced heavy rains in recent months which resulted in unfortunate incidents of flooding.
So says Marcus Monyakeni, Communications Specialist at the Department of Water and Sanitation.
“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 COVID-19 pandemic,” he explained.
Monyakeni added that affected communities also included informal settlements, which were desperately looking for shelter.
“Even with that in mind, it is wrong for people to erect shelters or build structures in areas that the municipality has demarcated or reserved to discharge the base flood.”
He mentioned it was also illegal to erect structures on weirs belonging to the Department of Water and Sanitation.
“A weir is meant to allow for overflow when the dam reaches its full capacity,” explained Monyakeni.
“Building on land prone to flooding or meant to mitigate such a flood. This 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.”
Monyakeni said some of the informal settlements are built on wetlands causing interference with nature and river health system.
“This is illegal, irrational, and irresponsible. These challenges can be mitigated through improved management of infrastructure by the municipalities in managing infrastructure, especially storm water drains, as well as enforcing by-laws relating to illegal settlements on municipal land.”
He explained that in most cases, residents of these flood-prone areas are among the poorest and most vulnerable.
“It is therefore advisable for people to erect settlement structures to first check with their municipalities regarding the legality or feasibility of the land they want to occupy prior to them settling there.”
The news provided to you in this link has been investigated and compiled by the editorial staff of the Newcastle Advertiser, a sold newspaper distributed in the Newcastle area. Please follow us on Youtube and feel free to like, comment, and subscribe. For more local news, visit our webpage, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and request an add on our WhatsApp (082 874 5550).
