The washed away Chingami bridge
Shumirai Zhou in Mberengwa
19 Feb 2017 – MBERENGWA – Masase area in Mberengwa West is facing yet another dire farming season, but this time not because of lack of rainfall, but because of too much of it; a situation which has led to the destruction of whole fields and the endangering of human life due to floods.
Speaking to TellZim News, residents of Masase said that Yengai Dam is flooded and their fields have been destroyed because of incessant rainfall.
“The heavy rains resulted in Yengai Dam getting flooded; our fields and crops have been damaged. All our maize, vegetables and sugarcane have been destroyed. We have toiled in vanity,” said one villager.
Other villagers with destroyed crops said the food situation in the area was unlikely to improve from what it was last year when the El Nino-induced drought laid to waste vast farmlands.
Students from both Masase High and Primary schools who have to cross rivers to get to school have missed many days of school because the rivers are flooded.
Masase Primary School head, Velaphi Shava recently told parents that the safety of children must come first before all else.
The engine which pumps water to Masase High School was also reported to be among the property that has been destroyed and the boarding school now facing erratic water supplies as it now has to rely solely on a single borehole.
Meanwhile, heavy downpours in Mwenezi district have washed away Chingami bridge which links Mwenezi Government High School and Chingami Primary School.
The worst affected areas in Mwenezi are under chiefs, Neshuro, Maranda, Mawarire and Murove.
Manyuchi Dam has also overflowed for the first time since Cyclone Eline of year 2000, resulting in the flooding of Dinhe bridge which links Mwenezi East and Mwenezi West across Mwenezi River.local
