Heavy rains bring businesses, transport to standstill
Cars and motorcycle passing near a pothole filled with dirty rain water at Tegeta Nyuki commuter bus station in Dar es Salaam yesterday. PHOTO | ERICKY BONIPHACE
What you need to know:
- In Dar es Salaam, some people could not go to work as buses stopped operations, and those who tried to go ended up on their way because of the transport hitches.
Dar es Salaam. Business and transport operations came to a standstill yesterday following heavy rains that destroyed some road infrastructure and affected some economic activities.
In Dar es Salaam, some people could not go to work as buses stopped operations, and those who tried to go ended up on their way because of the transport hitches.
Some regions, including Dar es Salaam, received heavy rains this week, affecting transport and other activities.
Some commuters were forced to go to the city train and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as alternative transport, but it could not help.
A resident of Kitunda, Ms Christine Mega, told The Citizen yesterday that she failed to go to work because the roads were not passable.
“I normally get home around 19:00 hours, but on Thursday I got home around 22:30 hours because there were no buses. Today (Friday), I have failed to go to work because the road is full of mud and the buses are not available at our place,” she said.
“Most of the roads here in Kitunda are full of potholes because, when it rains, most daladala’s (commuter buses) change their routes. Also, people with private cars decide to stay at their homes or look for alternative transport, fearing damage to their vehicles,” she said.
A driver, Mr Abubakari Athuman, stressed that the heavy downpour from Tuesday was so much that daladala business did not pay.
Mr Athuman, plying from Mwanangati to Mnazi Moja, said when it rains, most daladala change routes because commuters do not like using daladala’s due to traffic jams.
“The Mwanagati-Mnazi Moja route has no traffic jam, but when it rains, the road becomes widely flooded, such that drivers fail to ply that route. In my case, I tried to focus on my usual route. I ended up not working because passengers decided to look for alternative transport, “he said.
Following the heavy rains projected to continue from November 2 to November 9, 2023, the Wami/Ruvu Basin Water Board (WRBWB) has issued an alert to some residents in various areas of Dar es Salaam.
A statement released by WRBWB on flood alerts indicates some areas to be affected by heavy rainfalls that could lead to floods, including Gongo la Mboto, Ulongoni, Vingunguti, Tabata, Matumbi, Darajani, Jangwani, and Miyombo in Kilosa Morogoro.
WRBWB’s Manager, Department of Environment Management and Water User Association, Paskal Joseph, told The Citizen on November 3, 2023, that following the Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA), they decided to highlight some areas that are more likely to be affected by EL-Nino rains.
“People residing in the named areas must take action and be prepared to evacuate because those are always prone to floods. The good part of it is that we have a system that coordinates and measures water levels and tells how the areas could get affected,” he said.
Mr Joseph noted that their flood-forecast water levels already show danger thresholds in millimetres.
The following have the highest record of danger threshold in millimetres: Gongo la Mboto, Kigogo Bridge, Morogoro Bridge, Tabata Matumbi and Vingunguti Bridge.
