Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
ON 28 December last year, Mr Mark Stambuli could not believe his eyes as Sesame Bridge, a critical link between Nemangwe in Gokwe South and Nembudziya in Gokwe North was ripped apart by a powerful flood.
The catastrophic incident rendered the entire bridge which has been a long standing route for locals and a vital link for transportation worthless, causing significant disruptions across the two districts.
“I was at Nemangwe Business Centre waiting for transport to take me home in Nembudziya when it rained for about two hours. We boarded a commuter omnibus and got the shock of our lives upon reaching Sesame Bridge to find it being ripped apart by a powerful flood,” said Mr Stambuli.
Resultantly, there is no access road from Gokwe South to Gokwe North. On that fateful day, Mr Stambuli and other travellers were forced to return to Nemangwe, contemplating on how they would travel to Gokwe North.
The collapse of Sesame Bridge has had serious repercussions, with traffic being re-routed and local communities facing significant travel challenges.
The destruction of the bridge has been blamed on stream bank cultivation by locals.
According to research, stream bank cultivation is cultivating within 30 metres from the highest flood level of the bank of a water body.
This practice is not sustainable and renders the environment inapt to provide its functions of life support to humans, wildlife and vegetation.
Stream bank cultivation is a serious environmental challenge affecting water bodies in the country.
In most parts of the country, stream bank cultivation has been the major driver of siltation affecting streams, rivers, dams and infrastructure such as Sesame Bridge.
Cultivation of riparian areas is attributed to local land pressures, fertile alluvial soils with higher and longer moisture regimes, higher agricultural productivity, recurrent drought mitigation and closeness to a constant water source among other pressures and benefits.
Pohwe Bridge in the Defe area is also at risk of being damaged as a result of stream bank cultivation.
Gokwe South District Development Co-ordinator (DDC), Ms Netsai Mushauri said environmental degradation is leading to the collapse of infrastructure such as bridges and homes in the district.
“Our type of soil needs communities that are sensitive to environmental conservation issues. Issues of environmental degradation in the district are a cause for concern in Gokwe South. We have Sesame Bridge that was destroyed by floods, we have Pohwe Bridge that is under threat as well. This is as a result of stream bank cultivation. Now the river has changed its course threatening the bridge,” she said.
Ms Mushauri urged communities to stop environmental degradation and stream bank cultivation to protect their infrastructure.
“We urge traditional leaders to intensify their natural resources conservation role to safeguard road infrastructure. Our soil type can be easily eroded when communities engage in these malpractices,” she said.
According to Mr Peter Makwanya, a climate change researcher and lecturer at Zimbabwe Open University, climate change issues are environmental issues gone wrong.
“These are terms that influence one another in many ways. You can’t talk of the environment and be silent on climate change issues. On the issue of the bridge, it’s just after Mutimutema, at Sesame River. It has been badly degraded and silted due to streambank cultivation. The reason being that of fertile alluvial soils on the bank of Sesame River,” he said.
Mr Makwanya explained that Sesame River stretches from Gokwe South Town Centre as a tributary, cutting across the Svisvi area, Goredema, where its bridge was recently swept away by heavy floods.
He said the river then stretches further to Gwave, Kamhororo, Masakadza then passes by Mutimutema, where it is threatening to derail the bridge.
“The effects on the bridges are a combination of factors and unregulated human activities resulting from land use practices that have largely contributed to massive environmental riverine damages,” said Mr Makwanya.
He highlighted that Nemangwe is a dry area and it has experienced water challenges for quite some time now adding that communities are concentrated alongside main rivers like Sesame in search of water related livelihood options.
“This led communities to cultivate along the river bank, while the ploughed soils ended up heavily silting the river, coupled with weak soils that could not withstand the pressure of the heavy bridge. During summer, communities have their field patches along the river bank while in winter they practice gardening along the same river contributing to both landscape and ecological damage. What is being witnessed right now are the results of environmental deviance and insolence that has also led to climate change impacting on the river water handling capacity. That includes unlocking of carbon into the atmosphere contributing to global warming and killing of useful ecosystem services within the river contributing to dryness and water scarcities,” explained Mr Makwanya.
The expert said environmental degradation is an unregulated land use practice that has contributed to soil erosion, river siltation while affecting the weak type of soils which Sesame Bridge is constructed on.
The weak soils could no longer cope with the increasing pressure of the bridge.
“Solutions are simple; gazetted by-laws that need to be enforced to deter communities from destroying the river in search of livelihoods. To build resilience against environmental damage, education, training and awareness should be continuous, not a one time or seasonal event,” said Mr Makwanya.
The use of agricultural marginal lands like riparian areas for arable cropping is now rampant and fast spreading across global communities.
Ironically, stream bank cultivation is institutionally illegal but it is practically condoned among local people thereby raising controversy over its sustainability.
Mr Makwanya said lack of enforcement of policy by-laws has nurtured this kind of self-destructive behaviour, that has gone on for some time without being punished.
“Lack of proper and empowering environmental literacy, education and awareness of climate change and environment stewardship best practices has contributed to the current state of affairs in Gokwe South and North districts,” said Mr Makwanya.
Stream bank cultivation is still ongoing in the area with motorists using the Kadoma access road to get to Nembudziya while those on foot can cross using a foot bridge that was erected across the bridge.
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