FLOODS FLOOD ZAMBIA

...agriculture, construction and tourism sectors at mercy

FLOODED houses…collapsed bridges…waterlogged road surfaces…submerged fields…burst river bank…gushing rainwater; are commonplace in many parts of the country experiencing heavy rainfall. In contrast, in January this year most parts of the country experienced a dry spell leading to wilting of crops. Fears of drought emerged; this is because drought in any part of the world brings forth acute food shortage. In February however, the sky opened up as though it was compensation for the partial drought, but in a somewhat devastating fashion. The heavy rainfall has proved an inconvenience to normal life thus far. It has come with yet another debilitating problem – floods. Many roads including highways in many parts of the country have been inundated with floods while bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged. A dangerous and deep sink hole (a cavity formed by water erosion) has formed on the Ndola-Kapiri Mposhi road in Luansobe area on one lane because of the heavy rainfall. It yawns dangerously on the busy highway. In Chama district, 192 houses have collapsed leaving about 1,000 people homeless as the district remains cut off from the rest of Muchinga province. The stranded families have temporarily been accommodated at two schools. This prompted Muchinga Permanent Secretary Jobbicks Kalumba to rush to the area in a helicopter in the company of officials from the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU). Chama North Members of Parliament Darius Mumba was also in the entourage to assess the extent of the damage caused by flash floods. In Lusaka flash floods have hit Kuku, Misisi, Kanyama, Garden House, Chibolya and many other townships while in Kabwe Ngungu, Chimanimani, part of Bwacha, Katondo, Makululu and new Luangwa areas have also been overwhelmed by floods. In Livingstone, Namwala and other Southern Province towns have suffered similar fate so has Luanshya particularly in Newtown where two roads were submerged and motorists were advised to use alternative routes. In Ndola, about 20 houses have collapsed in Chipulukusu Township, leaving families stranded. Many other locations in the country have been negatively affected. A look at the seven-day weather forecast shows that the rain will continue, though the Southern part of the country will record reduced rainfall getting into next week. This therefore means that the floods that have overwhelmed many areas may continue ravaging. Zambia Meteorological Department director Edson Nkonde says the heavy rain is mainly because the rain-bearing system, the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ, has been oscillating over the central part of the country. This invariably means that the same rain pattern will continue in the central part of the country up to about next week while the Northern part of the country will have increased rainfall. “From 6th to 9th March 2018, the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), the main rain bearing system over Zambia, will be oscillating about the central parts of Zambia. “It is expected to move northwards temporarily between 10th and 12th March, 2018 increasing rainfall activities in the northern half of the country while reducing over the southern half,” Mr Nkonde explained. He said the wet conditions will continue to be experienced in Western, North-western, Copperbelt and Eastern provinces. The heavy rain in the four provinces will continue throughout the week while Muchinga, Luapula and Northern provinces will experience showers in the next seven days. Suffice to say that there is an extreme change in weather pattern this season perhaps because of climate change – variability in global or regional climate pattern mainly resulting from increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In the Zambian scenario, weather variability could partly be attributed to natural climate dynamics caused by configuration of global and regional systems. Secondly, the changes in the weather patterns are commonly known to be caused by human activities such as indiscriminate charcoal-burning that trigger emission of pollutants like carbon dioxide. Global warming is at play! Scientifically explained, the natural warming of the earth, that regulates the planet’s climate, happens when energy from sunlight enters the earth’s

atmosphere. The earth absorbs energy from sunlight – additional heating of the earth causes global warming. In turn, this increases the warming of the oceans and expands the volume of the vast water bodies. This prompts rise in the rate of water evaporation, generating heavier and longer downpours of rain. It is clear that the heavy rain has caused the floods; this has been exacerbated by poor drainage in the high-density areas and construction defects in unplanned settlements. There has been population boom caused by urbanisation hence the proliferation of unplanned settlements. Structures have been constructed haphazardly, constricting rain water passage. Deforestation is also another human factor that has worsened flooding because vegetation, which naturally holds water, has been indiscriminately desecrated. The ground has become loose and bare. Between Ndola and Kapiri Mposhi, for instance, uncontrolled charcoal burning has been rife, leaving large tracts of land bare. Settlers on this stretch are predominantly charcoal burners. In the early hours, a stream of charcoal burners is seen with bulky merchandise dangerously mounted on bicycles as they rush to Ndola or Kapiri Mposhi. A similar pattern is common in Northern and Muchinga provinces. Yes, floods have devastating consequences such as damage to property as afore-mentioned. In a worst scenario, this can lead to loss of lives particularly for the aged and toddlers that can easily be swept away. Certainly, crops cannot survive in floods as most likely they would be swept away while livestock gets scattered and succumbs in the rising waters. With floods, waterborne diseases are transmitted at a faster rate because contamination is quicker. In many cases, pit-latrines collapse and effluent easily finds its way to shallow wells – the source of drinking water. In many residential areas affected by floods in Zambia, residents and local authorities are battling to drain the flood water using motorised pumps. In Kabwe, Mayor Prince Chileshe announced that the Municipal Council would engage a private company to pump out water and improve the drainage. In Lusaka’s Kuku Township, Nkoloma ward councillor Tasila Lungu on Monday spearheaded the pumping out of flood water. In Luanshya, some streets in Newtown area were flooded at the weekend as the Municipal Council battled to drain out the water while in Livingstone’s Maramba area flooding is overwhelming sometimes cutting off the area from the rest of the city. There is an imperative need to initiate permanent solutions to natural disasters to secure human lives and save infrastructure from damage. Therefore, Zambia needs to upgrade infrastructure and ensure that the road network has durable and well-designed drainage system while modifications can be made to unplanned settlements that have distorted the environment. Certainly, flood management is harder to manage in existing developed areas as modifications can be cumbersome and complicated. In Lusaka, Millennium Challenge Account Zambia Limited has been working on three construction activities aimed at improving rainwater management in some townships. This project was part of the US$355 million Lusaka Water Supply, Sanitation and Drainage funded by the US Government through the Millennium Challenge Corporation five-year compact with the Zambian Government. It was launched in 2016 and involved works on the Bombay drainage and other sites in the capital city. It also included the 2.6 kilometre of drainage in Mazyopa settlement at a cost US17.2 million. However, it is obviously clear that Lusaka, Copperbelt and other urban areas still require a major overhaul of the drainage system because of the proliferation of unplanned and sprawling settlements. On protecting the environment, the Government must enforce the Environmental Protection and Pollution Control Act to curbing charcoal burning and other forms of pollution and environmental degradation. Zambia should ensure that it embraces sustainable methods of farming to protect the environment. Conservation farming and use of natural manure has to be encouraged. The effects of climate change are not only pounding Zambia but also other countries in the region. While Zambia is battling the flash floods, elsewhere in Europe citizens are experiencing extreme freezing temperatures that have not hit the area in nearly 30 years. According to the World Economic Forum online publication, weforum.org, Europe has been hit by unusually cold weather arising from warming weather in the Arctic. The publication says: “Europe is in the grip of a cold snap, which has sent temperatures plunging below their usual lateFebruary levels, and sparked heavy snow showers in unusually southerly spots like Rome. “The frigid temperatures are actually the result of unseasonably warm weather elsewhere, which helped set the conditions for Europe’s cold.” It adds that an Arctic blast is currently plunging England and Wales into coldest weather in 27 years. Back home, floods may affect critical sectors of the economy; agriculture may be the hardest hit as the fields are submerging. Tourism too is being negatively affected because wildlife cannot withstand foods while roads leading to tourism spots have been damaged. The construction sector has suffered a setback because of the damage to infrastructure and suspension of operations due to heavy rainfall. In the manufacturing industry, the negative effects arise because the raw materials come from agriculture sector which is equally in limbo. Therefore, awareness on climate change and its impact must be enhanced for the Zambian citizens to fully appreciate the problem at hand. In fact, the issue of climate change has resonated in Zambia and globally as workshops and conferences have been held on this very important topic, it has unfortunately not generated sufficient interest among the general populous. This is partly because discussions on effects of climate change sound far-fetched to the ordinary who feel it is a preserve of the scientists and other professionals. Secondly, discussions on this matter are mainly confined to conferences and workshops spearheaded by highly-scientific and technical facilitators. This issue needs to be more inclusive! Therefore, there is an imperative need to break it down for the ordinary citizens to comfortably relate to this seemingly highly-scientific and complex scenario. In any case, Zambia’s National Adaptation Programme of Action on climate change outlines a number of measures including creating public awareness on the adverse effects of climate change. Yes, climate change and the effects thereof are no longer abstract; floods are pounding agriculture, tourism and the construction sectors. Awareness programmes must be enhanced!