Finding Lasting Solution To Ghana’s Perennial Water Flooding

After a period of heat and related harsh weather conditions experienced in some parts of the country in recent times, it should have been a sigh of relief for many with the onset of the rains. However, the rainy season in Ghana has recorded unfortunate developments in the past few years. It is sad when the rains leave in its trail’s bitter memories to humanity. One havoc caused by rains that will forever remain indelible in the minds of many Ghanaians is the June 3 disaster. What started like any normal rain but ended up in tragedy? Homes were brought down, businesses were also shattered in a deadly twin fire and flood disaster. Just last year a medical doctor also sadly lost her life in Teshie, a suburb of Accra in similar flood waters.
Although we are not close to the peak of the rainy season this year, about five persons reportedly perished in last April 14 downpour. These are indications that we have not found permanent solutions to this ill omen associated with the onset of the rains. It is unfortunate that as a nation we have time and again behaved like the proverbial vulture that always remembers the need to put its house in order only when it is under the mercy of rainstorms. One fundamental reason behind flooding during the rainy season is the building of structures along waterways to impede water flow. Our poor drainage system and mismanagement of waste can also not escape mentioning as a major cause of flooding.
Flooding is further aggravated by improper garbage disposal and the earlier pragmatic ways of managing waste is found, the better it would be in finding a lasting solution to this perennial problem. The Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies as well as the Town and Country Planning Department will have to take stringent measures to get rid of all unauthorised structures built especially on water ways. The National Sanitation day instituted as a way of cleaning communities and desilting drains is indeed a step in the right direction and should be sustained with the seriousness it deserves.
Another measure which should be considered is the need to recycle our plastic waste since recent research findings prove that plastics are the prime cause of choked drains and its role in facilitating flooding cannot be over emphasised. The Government will do the nation a great service by empowering and resourcing the Information Services Department and the media so they can embark on campaigns on sanitation. Rainwater harvesting should be considered as a strategy to hold back the excess water that promotes flooding. Planting of trees to serve as wind brakes against the destruction of property during the rainy season should also be revived as a national concern.
The Public Works Department, the Town and Country Planning Department and the Building Inspectorate Committees should also ensure that people do not build on watercourses. As a nation, the rain has over the years been a good servant but a bad master with its attendant flood disasters. The time has come for us to unite as a nation and guide the rains to be just a servant and not a master. Flood disasters do not discriminate along the lines of political affiliation, ethnicity, social status and any of the trivial differences we use to tout our superiority over our fellow citizens. The earlier we unite and found a solution to this bad omen of flood disasters the better it will be for us.
By David Owusu-Amoah, a Deputy Director at the Information Services Department.

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