Rains wash away bridges in Tororo

By FAUSTINE ODEKE

Several bridges and culverts have been swept away by the current torrential rains in Tororo district, cutting off links between some sub-counties and Tororo town.

The worst hit sub-counties are Magola and Iyolwa after culverts along the route from Iyolwa junction trading centre to Iyolwa sub-county headquarters were washed away on Monday.

The Uganda National Roads Authority Tororo station engineer Chris Opuch in a statement said the road has temporally been closed to allow emergency repairs.

"The management of UNRA Tororo hereby informs the general public that due to the heavy rains, the road from Iyolwa stage to Nambogo is temporally closed. The public is hereby advised to use alternative roads and efforts are being made to put the sections affected in order," Opuch said.

The district engineer Robert Okello blamed the occurrence to encroachment into the swamps by the farmers especially rice growers who have ended up destroying all the vegetation that would help to reduce on the force of the floods.

In Osukuru sub-county, some families have also been displaced after their houses collapsed and several acres of food crops submerged by the floods.

The most affected area include Abwanget and Ngelechom villages.

The Abwanget LC1 chairman Dominic Odungu Emodo said acres of food crops were destroyed by floods after River Malaba burst its banks causing houses including pit latrines to give way.

He said the calamity is likely to lead to an outbreak of famine and diseases.

"We have never experienced this kind of disaster in our village, am worried that there is going to be serious outbreak of famine unless government comes to our rescue," Odungu said.

He said children no longer go to schools and cattle farmers have lack where to graze their animals.