Ongoing speculations continue to surround last week’s floods
Engineers in charge of construction works at the Odaw Bridge on the Graphic road have attributed last week’s floods to the rising sea levels as well as the activities of people living in and around the construction zone.
According to them, the ongoing construction, as perceived by the public could not have paved way for the flooding.
After the heavy rains which left the country’s capital flooded, resulting in the loss of 14 lives and the displacement of over 40,000 residents in the affected areas, various reasons were assigned to the cause of the flooding. One such reasons was the construction of a fly over currently ongoing on the Odaw River.any said that the contractors had blocked the passage, making it difficult for the running water to flow.
Explaining the cause of the floods and not attributing it to the ongoing construction work, the engineer in charge, Michael Leah explained that high sea tides, refuse haulage and human activities were factors that contributed to the last week’s Wednesday’s floods but not the activities of the construction as perceived by the general public.
He further hinted that the on the night before the rainfall, the sea level was at a high tide of 1.79 and the approximate rainfall was 100 mm, making the sea rather rush into the gradually building flood.
According to him, the capacities of most rivers have been greatly reduced by the deposition of silt and garbage and weed growth in and along the riverbanks. At the same time the amount of storm water runoff has increased several times in the last two decades as a result of increased residential, commercial, and infrastructure developments, which have produced more rainproof surfaces in most drainage basins.
Inadequate storm water drainage is one of the most serious problems facing Accra today. Flooding in low-lying areas, erosion of steep slope areas, and pollution of streams by waste discharges, have been identified as the major environmental problems facing the city.
Until the appropriate authorities take steps to address this situation and act fast, the problem of flooding in Accra will continue to hamper the development of the nation.
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