Rains expose bad drainage in Accra
Tue, 2 Sep 2008
Source: AfricaNews
The raining season has exposed the lack of adequate and efficient drainage systems in some parts of Accra, the capital city of Ghana. This often leads to flooding in some communities within the capital. The perennial floods affect both residential and commercial areas leading to inconveniences, loss of working hours, loss of property and damage to property.
Very often, scenes of such calamities are projected in the Ghanaian media however, each year the problems repeat themselves when the rains set in. Some flood prone areas have had to live with this nightmare for years and very little is done to ameliorate their plights. Usually, these floods and the inconveniences they cause could be avoided with proper drainage networks. Some of these areas do not even have gutters to serve this purpose; and in areas where gutters are constructed, they are not well linked to major drains in the city. Therefore, when it rains, the water does not have a channel or means of escaping. Instead it collects swells and floods these communities.
The heavy rains also form puddles which become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other disease causative agents, hence the spread of malaria, cholera, typhoid and dysentery in affected communities. The roads in these communities also become 'un-motorable' to motorists and pedestrians who struggle to commute. Vehicles that force their way through the floods either get stuck or suffer damages to their engines and other car parts.
Some residents find innovative ways around the problem by creating alleys to redirect the floods wide sandbags and other objects. But the big question is how long this solution can last. There is definitely the need for long term measures on the part of district and municipal authorities to address the issue of bad drains in the capital city.
The raining season has exposed the lack of adequate and efficient drainage systems in some parts of Accra, the capital city of Ghana. This often leads to flooding in some communities within the capital. The perennial floods affect both residential and commercial areas leading to inconveniences, loss of working hours, loss of property and damage to property.
Very often, scenes of such calamities are projected in the Ghanaian media however, each year the problems repeat themselves when the rains set in. Some flood prone areas have had to live with this nightmare for years and very little is done to ameliorate their plights. Usually, these floods and the inconveniences they cause could be avoided with proper drainage networks. Some of these areas do not even have gutters to serve this purpose; and in areas where gutters are constructed, they are not well linked to major drains in the city. Therefore, when it rains, the water does not have a channel or means of escaping. Instead it collects swells and floods these communities.
The heavy rains also form puddles which become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other disease causative agents, hence the spread of malaria, cholera, typhoid and dysentery in affected communities. The roads in these communities also become 'un-motorable' to motorists and pedestrians who struggle to commute. Vehicles that force their way through the floods either get stuck or suffer damages to their engines and other car parts.
Some residents find innovative ways around the problem by creating alleys to redirect the floods wide sandbags and other objects. But the big question is how long this solution can last. There is definitely the need for long term measures on the part of district and municipal authorities to address the issue of bad drains in the capital city.
