Council urged to prioritise climate resilient infrastructure

16 Jan, 2022 - 00:01 0 Views
Council urged to prioritise climate resilient infrastructure

The Sunday News

Colin Moyo, Sunday News Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council has been urged to prioritise climate change resilient infrastructure such as storm drains following flash floods that left some houses in Pumula suburb affected and residents stranded.

This emerged in a report by the Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights. Bulawayo’s Pumula suburb was hit by flash floods on 2 January which left some of the houses affected by the floods after heavy rains pounded the city.

Some of the houses had their roofs blown off while some pre-cast walls were destroyed by the violent winds.

“Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) calls on Zimbabwe urban authorities, including Bulawayo City Council to prioritise climate change resilient urban infrastructure by improving the city’s storm drains in order to reduce people’s vulnerability to storms,” reads the report.

MIHR said the flooding which hit Pumula suburb were caused by poor storm drains.

“On 2 January 2022 heavy rains pounded various parts of Bulawayo including Pumula suburb and MIHR received and witnessed unfortunate incidents of urban flooding in some parts of Pumula.

The flooding was due to poor storm drains and some durawalls not having weep holes,” reads the report.

MIHR also called on residents to ensure that weep holes were opened to prevent flooding in their homes.

“MIHR, therefore, urges Bulawayo residents to be responsible and ensure the opening of weep holes to minimise flooding in the communities,” reads the report.

The human rights institute further urged members of the public to desist from polluting storm drains as that chokes the movement of water during the rainy season.

The organisation challenged the city council to invest in the construction and maintenance of storm drains in the city and called on residents in areas that are affected to organise themselves and offer their services in the maintenance of local storm drains to avoid blockages.

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