REAL FLOODING RISK IN H-TOWN’S CBD
HARARE City Council says it is struggling to maintain the drainage system as it has no functional pneumatic truck.
The central business district (CBD) risks flooding due to the clogged drainage system.
Council spokesperson, Innocent Ruwende, said the City Fathers bought machinery to address the drainage challenges.
“The City has procured a new excavator that will be dedicated to major drain clearing.
“Some drains have not been cleared in the past eight or more years,” he said. We also target to procure three tractor loader backhoes, one front end loader and three tractor-trailer combinations before the end of this year to assist in loading and transportation of spoil from drains as this is one of our major challenges at the moment.”
He said the City Council’s roads division has set up a team responsible for drain cleaning and flood management in the CBD throughout the rainy season.
“There is also a joint drain cleaning, drain clearing and spoil removal operation by the Amenities Division and the Roads Division,” Ruwende said.
“This is a complementary exercise to the main drain cleaning programme. “The main aim is to clear the illegal dumpsites in the CBD as they lead to flooding after the waste from these areas is washed into stormwater drains.”
He urged residents to avoid littering saying the accumulated rubbish can block drainage systems during the current wet spell.
Council is currently carrying out drain cleaning, pipe drain deblocking and spoil removal exercise, but motorists have said it was unfair for the municipality to conduct the exercise during the rainy season.
“We appreciate the effort the Council is putting to clear the drainage system, but it is unfair that they always wait for the rainy season to clear the drains,” one motorist, Prince Sibanda, said.
“They are only doing so now because there is some flooding.
“HCC should up its game in terms of refuse collection in residential areas as failure to do so results in residents dumping waste everywhere, including drainage systems.”
During the rainy season every year, the CBD, Highfield, Glen View, Mbare, Kambuzuma and Warren Park face flooding challenges due to blockage of drains.