Water Ponds To Stop City Floods Underway
May 27, 2003
SEVERAL large ponds are to be set up in the city to trap rain water as one way to reduce floods, a consultant has said,
SEVERAL large ponds are to be set up in the city to trap rain water as one way to reduce floods, a consultant has said, reports Charles Wendo.
Dr. Martin Van Veelen, an environmental engineer with a South African firm currently doing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study for the city, said trapped water would then be released slowly instead of letting it flood the city.
Veelen said the scheme would be part of the Kampala Drainage Master Plan aimed at ridding the city of floods. The project includes construction of several drainage channels.
“It is more than just an idea. It will happen,†Veelen said. He was speaking at the Naguru Community Centre, during a meeting with local councillors to discuss the EIA.
The editor of Tree Talk, Catherine Watson, urged the consultants to include indigenous aquatic weeds in the ponds and in drainage channels. She said environmental scientists at Makerere University had identified water-cleaning aquatic plants that could be used for such purposes. “We can make these weed-beds and use them to our advantage,†she said.
Watson also urged the consultants to consider the burden that polythene (buveera) would put on the drainage systems. She advised that trees be planted along the edges of the drainage channels and wetland boundaries.
Veelen said some city areas had natural basins that only needed modification. In other areas, the ponds would have to be built.
The consultants have identified Centenary Park, some valleys in Kinawataka, Lubigi, Nalukolongo and the Kabaka’s Lake, as possible sites for flood water retention. Watson also suggested the Lugogo valley, the lowland near the Entebbe Road Clock Tower and the area between Sixth Street Industrial Area triangle and Jinja Road.
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Dr. Martin Van Veelen, an environmental engineer with a South African firm currently doing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study for the city, said trapped water would then be released slowly instead of letting it flood the city.
Veelen said the scheme would be part of the Kampala Drainage Master Plan aimed at ridding the city of floods. The project includes construction of several drainage channels.
“It is more than just an idea. It will happen,†Veelen said. He was speaking at the Naguru Community Centre, during a meeting with local councillors to discuss the EIA.
The editor of Tree Talk, Catherine Watson, urged the consultants to include indigenous aquatic weeds in the ponds and in drainage channels. She said environmental scientists at Makerere University had identified water-cleaning aquatic plants that could be used for such purposes. “We can make these weed-beds and use them to our advantage,†she said.
Watson also urged the consultants to consider the burden that polythene (buveera) would put on the drainage systems. She advised that trees be planted along the edges of the drainage channels and wetland boundaries.
Veelen said some city areas had natural basins that only needed modification. In other areas, the ponds would have to be built.
The consultants have identified Centenary Park, some valleys in Kinawataka, Lubigi, Nalukolongo and the Kabaka’s Lake, as possible sites for flood water retention. Watson also suggested the Lugogo valley, the lowland near the Entebbe Road Clock Tower and the area between Sixth Street Industrial Area triangle and Jinja Road.
Ends