8 January 2008
Maputo — The Cahora Bassa dam on Monday evening increased its discharges into the Zambezi river from 6,000 to 6,600 cubic metres a second, a move that is certain to worsen the flooding on the lower Zambezi.
According to Tuesday's bulletin from Mozambique's National Water Board (DNA), this decision was caused in part by the opening of floodgates on Zambia's Itezhi-tezhi dam. This dam is discharging 200 cubic metres a second into the Kafue river, which joins the Zambezi between the Kariba and the Cahora Bassa lakes.
On Monday the level of the Zambezi continued to rise in Tete city, and further downstream in the districts of Mutarara and Caia. The rise is expected to continue for at least the next 24 hours.
In Mutarara, much of the Inhangoma administrative post, at the confluence of the Zambezi and its largest tributary, the Shire, is under water. According to local officials of the Mozambican relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC), about 1,600 households have been moved from the most vulnerable parts of Inhangoma to higher ground.
According to the INGC Tete provincial delegate, Teresa Jeque, roads have been cut throughout Mutarara district, and water continues to cascade into the district down the Shire valley from Malawi. The accommodation centres for the displaced in Inhangoma, she added, can only be reached by boat.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is requesting about 2.4 million US dollars from its donors to meet the immediate and mid-term needs of children and women in all the affected areas.
A Tuesday statement from UNICEF said it was working with the Mozambican Red Cross and other partners, and has sent specialists to the flooded river basins to estimate the impact.
"We are following the situation closely, and concrete measures are being taken to support the response to the floods", said UNICEF representative Leila Pakkala. "The floods have already hit some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities, and our priority is to improve the living conditions of the people who have been displaced, half of whom are children".
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