Dodma dredges rivers in Shire Valley districts

Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) has started dredging rivers in Nsanje and Chikwawa districts to minimise the impact of flooding during the rainy season.

Speaking on Monday when he inspected the exercise in Nsanje, Dodma commissioner Charles Kalemba said the department is leaving no stone unturned in disaster preparedness.

He said: “Floods in the Shire Valley are mainly aggravated by siltation and debris in rivers so much that even small amounts of rainfall result in flooding.

“Dredging will reduce flood risks. As we are moving communities at risk to safer places, we have also strengthened interventions to protect them from perennial disasters and building their resilience.”

Kalemba said most of the rivers changed their courses following tropical storms Ana, Gombe and Idai.

“The exercise is to ensure that running water should not find its way to people’s homes,” he said.

Nsanje district disaster risk management desk officer Patrick Sipuni said the flood interventions have come at the right time.

“Most rivers changed their courses this year. Ndiola River alone affected 400 households from six villages. The families lost most of their property. We will take advantage of the Climate Smart Public Works Programme to plant trees along the river banks,” he said.

The department is also constructing an evacuation centre in Mchacha James Village, Traditional Authority Mlolo in Nsanje.

The centre is expected to ease pressure in schools during disasters.

As part of preparedness, the department has developed the national multi-hazard contingency plan in readiness for the season to guide the response interventions for any type of disaster.

With technical expertise from the Department of Water Resources and funding from the World Bank, under the Malawi Resilience and Disaster Risk Management Project, Dodma is dredging Ndiola, Nyamadzere, Nyamkotola and Nyachilenda rivers in Nsanje District.