Authorities in Nkhatabay district say over 250 hectares of crops were washed away by floods at the Linga Irrigation scheme in the area of Senior Chief Fukamapiri, due to heavy rains the district received over the past few days.
According to the District Commissioner for Nkhata-Bay district, Rodgers Newa, the district has had heavy rains that have destroyed crops and left many families homeless.
“Over the past weeks, we have been receiving continuous heavy rainfall which has led to the flooding of Linga dam and destroyed huge hectares of crops and rendered some people homeless.
“A preliminary assessment from our agriculture office indicates that 250 hectares (which is prone to change as assessments of the damage are still underway) of cropland of immature maize, cassava, bananas, and rice have been washed away, posing fear of hunger to affected communities,” he said.
Newa added that the district is working on short-term plans to make sure that food and shelter is available to the affected households.
“We are also devising long-term plans like helping farmers to replant some of the crops that may still do better in the remaining time of this year’s growing season, advising them to make good use of the waters in the dam for irrigation in the dry season and also urging the farmers in the upper catchment of the dam to practice farming systems that promote minimum soil disturbance,” he added.
In his remarks, Senior Irrigation Engineer for Nkhata-Bay district, Edward Mjiku, indicated that much as the heavy rains were the root cause of the floods, the other factor that caused the flooding was the blockage of the river course at the dam by the branches of trees.
“Apart from the heavy rainfall, the river course at the dam was blocked by branches of trees and other things. This meant that the waters that were released from the dam into the river course did not have anywhere to go hence creating a new path to pass through and that position happened to be in the farmers’ fields,” said Mjiku.
He added that had it been that the waters were flowing into its original stream the damage could have been minimized and the dam has greatly reduced the damage to the farmers and houses destroyed because the water was held and runoff reduced, unlike in the past when the dam was not there.
“The coming of the dam has saved the communities a lot,” Mjiku highlighted.
Meanwhile, Nkhata-Bay district Senior Assistant Meteorologist, Amos Chimbwira, has indicated that the district will continue receiving heavy rainfall as the country draws toward the end of the 2023/2024 rainfall season.
