adminTalent Simbi
WHEN news that Nyamombe Bridge had been swept away by floods broke out, the powers that be quickly put their act together to get the bridge repaired.
While villagers wait in anticipation of the official opening of the much-publicised structure, no one knows if the same disaster will not repeat itself in the near future.
The Nyatate/Mapako area has over the years been receiving erratic rains. Scorching heat, drought and hunger have become the order of the day. Except for a few boreholes that have seen better days and in dire need of attention, villagers survive on river water for gardening and household use.
People cultivate yams, cassava, early maize and sugarcane on the immediate river banks or in the midst of the river if there happens to be any space.
Yet it is this stream bank cultivation which has contributed immensely to the siltation of Nyamombe and Nyajezi rivers.
Walking along Nyajezi River from Torongo to its confluence with Nyamombe is not an interesting undertaking.
The river has been reduced to a seasonal stream with a carpet of sand cushioning it throughout its profile. This river used to run deep and wide all year round as it snaked down its journey to empty its waters into Nyamombe.
The same applies to Nyamombe River where some of its deepest parts which were regarded as sacred and used to be homes to mermaids and crocodiles have become a thing of the past as siltation has taken its toll.
Mounds and mounds of sand have become a common sight on the river bed.
It is against this background that whenever rains fall, the river is easily flooded.
The flowing water armed with logs and silt damages bridges by chocking the drainage holes.
When the Nyamombe Bridge was swept away in 2011, Nyajezi Bridge near Nyatate for the first time overflowed and it was lucky to remain intact.
If the situation continues unabated the river can run dry thereby turning the area into a little desert.
Interviewed farmers defended the stream-bank cultivation.
“Whatever is said, who cares? Who can endure carrying buckets of water for 30 metres from the river?
“After all crops do well on the banks of the river where there are fertile soils,” said one villager from Nyatate.
The only way to save Nyamombe River from being choked by siltation is through unveiling of irrigation schemes like the ones in Ward 30 where Mwenje and Pendeke rivers have been spared from siltation.
EMA is yet to implement stringent monitoring measures to rectify the situation, yet the area is slowly being turned into a desert.
The Nyamombe Bridge bank farmers are there to stay as long as they need to grow food crops and sustain their families.
According to an EMA employee who refused to be named citing organisational protocol, they were trying very hard to arrest the situation, but villagers were increasingly becoming stubborn and vowing not to stop the practice.
“Our efforts have been in vain because even after raiding them, they will still find their way back to their old practices,” he said.
Online Reporter