Chronicle Editor
Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
EXPERTS have recommended that any future infrastructure developments in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts should be placed on high ground and be at least 300 metres away from rivers.
In a report after a site visit to the areas that were destroyed by Cyclone Idai, Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers, the Zimbabwe Association of Consulting Engineers and the Institute of Architects in Zimbabwe representatives said most affected buildings were in low lying areas and valleys.
The team of experts visited the two most devastated sites: Ngangu in Chimanimani District and Kopa in Rusitu district from April 8 to April 10.
They also recommended that most of the residents be relocated to three possible sites which need further study.
“Most of the buildings that were destroyed were in low lying areas and valleys. It’s recommended that any future development should be placed on high ground and also at least 300m from river streams. It’s also the team’s recommendation that most of the residents be relocated to three possible sites which need further study. These have been suggested in this report as Nhedziwa, Park View and Green Mound summit. These three sites have advantages and disadvantages which need to be studied further,” reads the report.
The experts indicated that three schools in Ngangu and Kopa could be repaired for completion in four weeks, but they are not accessible from some directions.
“Learners from the villages that cannot access these schools would need to be placed at other distant schools. The cyclone victims who are currently occupying them would have to be moved so that repairs can commence. Residential, office and commercial buildings which cannot be vacated for strategic reasons such as Wattle Company Factory near Ngangu should be protected with huge concrete retaining walls at the toe of surrounding hills. These concrete retaining walls should be placed about 200-300 metres behind the buildings to stop the slope movement,” added the experts in their report.
The experts said the Cyclone Idai disaster had far-reaching consequences on residents of Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts.
“The two most affected areas are Ngangu in Chimanimani District and Kopa in Chipinge District. The whole settlements were wiped out, resulting in many people losing their lives, currently estimated at over 1 000 for Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi,” said the experts in their report.
“Infrastructure which included dams, roads, residential buildings and schools were also extensively damaged. Power lines, substations, transformers and fibre optic cables were washed away.”
In the affected areas, the total number of houses destroyed is over 2 250. Chimanimani and Chipinge districts were devastated by a 3, 8 Richter Scale earth tremor and Cyclone Idai. According to experts, this was one of the worst recorded cyclones in Southern Africa to affect Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi. @pamelashumba1
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