Date Posted: 5/13/2013 2:47:40 AM
Posted By: warira Membership Level: Gold Total Points: 1095
We all love rain don’t we? Would we still welcome it when it brings loss of life, loss of property among other devastating effects. It is ironical that rain is the core element of our existence yet it is also a weapon of mass destruction. For a long time floods have been a thorn in the flesh for the Kenyan people. Is it that it is impossible to handle or is it that we lack the initiative to solve it? I go with the latter; I strongly believe that we have the skills, the resources and the technology to deal with this thorny issue. Many of you will ask how and I will gladly answer you in this article.First and foremost it is important to understand the causal factors of floods. Floods are caused by natural events which cause disaster when they interact with social, economic, political and environmental processes. They have been on an increase due to the population pressure as flood plains have been taken up for agriculture and livestock farming; deteriorating infrastructure as we lack systemic and routine maintenance of flood dykes; environmental degradation of watersheds caused by uncontrolled and unregulated human activity. I do not need to go to the negative effects of floods as we are all familiar with them. Without much ado I will discuss the various ways in which we can avoid these adverse effects.We will first look at the institutional mechanisms. We have the Water Act of 2002 which provides that a catchment management strategy for protection and control of water resources should be developed. This is a very important legislation that can reduce flood hazards if applied practically. For those in the legal field they should strongly advocate for its full implementation and application. We also have Disaster Operations Centre (DOC) under the office of the President which is responsible for management of all disasters through the Disaster Management Committees at the provincial and district levels. However there is the need to strengthen the linkage between the ministry of water, Disaster Operations Centre and the Kenya Meteorological Department to develop an integrated flood forecasting and disaster management.Lack of advance warning of incoming floods takes the public unaware, leaving no time to take preventive measures. For instance houses become flooded and there could be no higher grounds nearby for immediate shelter. This happens because there are no institutional arrangements to review and update the early warning system; a system helps in improving the efficiency of disaster management programs. Therefore flood emergencies should be managed in an integrated manner within the overall proposed National Disaster Management policy with clearly defined responsibility for flood forecasting and warning.We may have the best laid out strategies but without finance they cannot take off. There should be appropriate contributions from all layers of government and communities. This kind of funding increases ownership of, and commitment to flood management strategies thereby improving its sustainability and will help in mobilizing funding from multiple sources such as international donors. For instance levying taxes or flood insurances have been used in many countries to encourage and develop integrated flood management.Structural and non-structural measures should be put in place. Structural measures such as dykes and multipurpose reservoirs should be built with the appropriate environmental safeguards. A dedicated mechanism for maintenance of dykes and other flood management structures should be put in place. The structural measures are not enough hence the need for complementary measures, for instance, flood forecasting and warning systems. The systems ensure that flood warnings are delivered timely and that they are understood so that they can take immediate preventive steps. Therefore an appropriate communication system should be set up to provide advanced flood warnings to the village level communities. The local knowledge and beliefs of the communities and their special social and cultural setting have to also be kept in perspective while issuing flood warnings.We live in a democratic society where every one has a right to be heard. When coming up with the flood management policies it is important to engage the community. If the interests of the local people are in conflict with the objectives of the government it may not be possible to enact legislation. Active community participation in the planning and management at all levels helps in resolving potential conflicts through negotiations and reaching compromise solutions. Moreover, it is beneficial in maintaining infrastructure as the community has a feeling of ownership and belonging. It makes a lot of sense to involve the community as they are ones who interact frequently with the natural resources and can easily note anomalies.In concluding I would say that floods, although, being a natural phenomenon can be well managed by human beings. Through effective institutions, structural and non-structural measures, community participation, early warnings and forecasts we can be able to reduce the hazardous effects of floods. Floods are a blessing in disguise, if we remove the ugly mask we will benefit immensely from them.
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