NEMA warns west of El-nino
Oct 25, 2004
THE National environmental management authority (NEMA) has warned farmers in western Uganda about the imminent el-nino rains and landslides due late this month and November.
By Ebenezer Bifubyeka
THE National environmental management authority (NEMA) has warned farmers in western Uganda about the imminent el-nino rains and landslides due late this month and November.
The western region NEMA representative, Jeconious Musingwire, on Friday said heavy rains and landslides were expected in the hilly areas of Ibanda in Mbarara and Kisoro districts.
“According to the weather forecasts, el-nino rains are expected in the months of October up to November. That is why there are intermittent rains now,†he said.
Musingwire, also the Mbarara district environmental officer, said people should stop burning bushes so that rainwater is able to percolate the soils during the heavy rains.
He said El-nino rains last hit Mbarara in 2000 after the 1999 drought, destroying crops, domestic birds, houses and household property.
“Fortunately, the 2000 El-nino also created Kisindi wetland in Nyabushozi along the Mbarara-Masaka road,†he said.
The 2000 El-nino created Lake Oruchinga in Oruchinga refugee resettlement camp, in Isingiro, Mbarara district. The refugees in Oruchinga draw their water and fish from it.
The meteorogical department at Entebbe warned the country earlier in the year of El-nino rains, but said they would be mild, unlike in 2000 when they swept away homesteads and destroyed crops.
Ends
THE National environmental management authority (NEMA) has warned farmers in western Uganda about the imminent el-nino rains and landslides due late this month and November.
The western region NEMA representative, Jeconious Musingwire, on Friday said heavy rains and landslides were expected in the hilly areas of Ibanda in Mbarara and Kisoro districts.
“According to the weather forecasts, el-nino rains are expected in the months of October up to November. That is why there are intermittent rains now,†he said.
Musingwire, also the Mbarara district environmental officer, said people should stop burning bushes so that rainwater is able to percolate the soils during the heavy rains.
He said El-nino rains last hit Mbarara in 2000 after the 1999 drought, destroying crops, domestic birds, houses and household property.
“Fortunately, the 2000 El-nino also created Kisindi wetland in Nyabushozi along the Mbarara-Masaka road,†he said.
The 2000 El-nino created Lake Oruchinga in Oruchinga refugee resettlement camp, in Isingiro, Mbarara district. The refugees in Oruchinga draw their water and fish from it.
The meteorogical department at Entebbe warned the country earlier in the year of El-nino rains, but said they would be mild, unlike in 2000 when they swept away homesteads and destroyed crops.
Ends