Dyke to reduce flood risk in Phalombe

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People in Phalombe can now smile as United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has built a dyke which will control water and stop flooding in the area of group village headman Tamani of Traditional Authority Jenala.

As Phalombe was one of the districts worst hit by floods over the past years, communities in the area thought of submitting a proposal to UNDP who provided 10 million Kwacha for the construction of the dyke.

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According to the Chairperson for Community Anti-violence Organisation Hudson Mambulasi in the district, they decided to write a proposal to UNDP to reduce the problems that come due to disasters like floods.

“We saw the hardships of disasters that took place in 2013 and it left 1030 families in a devastating situation which lead to the positive response by UNDP,” said Mambulasi.

He added that the 8.32 kilometer Dyke has helped a lot as now they are able to harvest their crops of which in the past they failed due to floods that covered the area.

Mambulasi however said they will make sure that the dyke is sustainable as they will be planting trees around the dyke to keep it from sinking due to heavy rains.

Commenting on the same, assistant district disaster officer in the district Davie Chibani said the dyke has reduced problems of disasters in the area of Traditional Authority Jenala as now people are able to harvest crops well.

“There has been a great improvement after the construction of the dyke as it has reduced flooding in the area,” said Chibani.

However, it has been observed that there is a great lack of early warning systems that would help communities to be aware of possible disasters.