Sudden Water Rise

Pramesh Naidu, Suva

The recent flooding activity in the Western Division had a lot of impact on the people and the surrounding environment.

The thing that really makes my mind jump out of the box is the sudden increase in water levels.

The flood water levels at 12am on Sunday was rising and was close to just nothing noticeable but within 1 and 1/2 hours it rose to more than 4 feet with no rain whatsoever. And when I checked the tide chart for the day at 12:36am we were supposed to have a low tide.

With all this considerations it makes me wonder how the water rose and why it happened so fast.

Another thing I heard and was quiet amazed with while having a watch on the rising water levels with friends and family was that the water levels rose due to the opening of the dam.

If that's the case then I believe the public must be made aware of how the dam works and when and how it is opened for a reason so that people are prepared. There needs to be clarity on issues of such importance in the livelihoods of all Fijians because this is not the first time for water to rise so suddenly.

If there is a justifiable natural cause there is little that we can do to solve the problem.

But if a major cause is man-made the relevant authorities need to provide a definitive clarification on the issue.