Government must find lasting solution to raging floods

The rainy season has come with its share of blessings and difficulties. Those who depend on agriculture for a living are happy because the crops planted are bursting out of the earth.

A ride across the country in different areas will show you lush and green fields of maize, beans, sweet potatos, groundnuts and a many other crops. If all goes according to plan, the farmers should expect a good harvest.

However, the rains have also come with floods and mudslides displacing people and slowing down business. Hardly a week goes without a day’s rain causing havoc somewhere. On Sunday, April 29, the Daily Monitor reported that rain in the past two weeks has destroyed roads, bridges and gardens in Kanungu District.

Mr Frank Byaruhanga, the Kanungu District councillor for Mpungu, said some of the destroyed roads include Kanungu-Kerere-Hamurwa, Rugyeyo-Kambuga and Kanungu-Nyamirama- Bwambara-Rukungiri roads.

Earlier, the Daily Monitor reported that on Monday, April 23, the bridge at River Muzizi that connects Kyegegwa and Kibaale districts, has been washed away making movement road difficult.

In Bududa District, mudslides that occurred on April 27, after heavy rain, destroyed gardens, livestock and homes. Thankfully, no deaths were reported. In Kampala, areas such as Bwaise and parts of Bugolobi have as is the norm, flooded following heavy rains.

The irony is that this is not something strange or new. Every rainy season, residents suffer as various roads and bridges get swept away, while those who live in low-lying areas prepare to fight with floods, hauling water out of their houses every time it rains and moving their goods from shops to a place where they hope they will be kept dry.

The questions, therefore are, if we know this always happens, what are we doing to change the situation and ensure that people are not inconvenienced? What are we doing to provide alternatives - do we sensitise residents about the dangers of living in specific places so that they understand and start finding a solution?
The flooding and destruction of infrastructure and property has happened for way too long for the authorities to just keep lamenting instead of responding in a robust way to mitigate the problem. These are questions the relevant authorities need not to only answer, but also find and implement sustainable solutions.