Floods wreck Butaleja roads and homes

By Daniel Edyegu

HEAVY rains have flooded the Mbale-Butaleja road at Doho rice scheme in Butaleja district, cutting off vital communication along the route. 

A stretch of about one-and-a-half kilometers of the murrum road at the rice scheme located 30 kilometers from Mbale town.  Part of the Doho-Namulo road has also flooded.

A man stands infront of his flooded compund in the district. PHOTO by Daniel Edyegu

Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians moving along the route have to wade through the waters, which are knee-deep in some sections of the road. The floods have worsened the damage on road that had just undergone repairs to seal the potholes created by similar floods last year and mid this year.

In some sections, the floods have washed off the murrum, exposing concrete culverts of the bridges on the surface, some of which have started to crack.

Because the whole road is flooded, you can’t tell where there is a pothole and what part of the road is fairly safe. Besides, the engines of vehicles and motorcycles are also at a risk of getting damaged, Yasin Kirya, a truck driver along the route said. 

“This is a persistent problem. We have had a lot of Government promises to raise the level of the road and build wider bridges but nothing positive is forthcoming,” Kirya explained.

A student wades through a flooded road on his way to school. PHOTO by Daniel Edyegu

The floods have also affected several gardens and compounds of homesteads in the sub-counties of Mazimasa, Himutu and Kachonga. 

At Doho and Namahere primary schools, as a result of the stagnant rain waters, pit latrines have collapsed and classroom walls eaten away. 

The district is carrying on a disaster assessment of the affected families.