The Sunday News
Sharon Chimenya, Masvingo Correspondent
THE Chivi District Civil Protection Unit (CPU) has reaffirmed its alertness and allayed fears of possible flooding in areas around Tugwi-Mukosi Dam following the continual rise of the dam level.
The rains in Masvingo province have seen water levels of most dams gaining significantly with Tugwi-Mukosi at 94,33 percent on Friday and experts warned that it could start spilling in the next 48 hours. Muzhwi Dam which is upstream of Tugwi-Mukosi recorded 109,7 percent as of 15 January and has been spilling for weeks.
Chivi District Development Co-ordinator who is the chairperson for the District CPU, Mr Innocent Matingwina said they were already on the ground conducting awareness campaigns and identifying people who might be affected in the event of flooding.
“We are having awareness campaigns in ward 28 and we will move to ward 31 which is close to Ngundu where we are identifying the population that is likely to be affected if the dam is to spill.
“We will go on to outline the requirements that are needed for people to be moved to our evacuation centres.
“We have already urged those on higher ground to accommodate some of the families that are in the low-lying areas. We will continue with the same process to those who are located at Maringire,” he said.
He said that the district has already set up evacuation centres that would be used to accommodate villagers that would be moved before flooding occurs.
“We are educating the villagers to be alert as we have urged them not to take their livestock for grazing in the vicinity of the dam, not to go to the dam to wash their clothes and to relocate to evacuation centres on high ground. The district has four evacuation sites, one in ward 28, two in ward 31 and one at Maringire.”
Mr Matingwina said they have been assured by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) that the dam infrastructure was intact and will not collapse.
“We just had a meeting with Zinwa at the dam and our dam is level is now at 89,3 percent and is left with around 10 percent for it to be full. So, the possibility for an overflow is very high.
“They have given us assurance that the infrastructure is very intact and will not collapse and pose a danger to villages downstream,” he said.
According to the recent updates by Zinwa, Tugwi-Mukosi has surpassed 88 percent. Since December last year the country’s biggest inland dam with a 1,8 billion cubic metres capacity has been receiving significant inflows, surpassing the highest level of 78 percent it reached in 2018.
In 2014 over 3 000 families together with their livestock were evacuated to Chingwizi in Mwenezi following flooding in the dam basin.
