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Mozambique: Discharges From Cahora Bassa Reduced
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
19 January 2008
Posted to the web 21 January 2008
Maputo
The Cahora Bassa dam, in the central Mozambican province of Tete, has reduced its discharges into the Zambezi river from 5,200 to 4,600 cubic metres a second, according to the latest bulletin from the National Water Board (DNA).
A week ago Cahora Bassa was releasing 6,600 cubic metres a second. The 30 per cent cut in discharges over seven days has certainly been a major factor leading to falls in the level of the Zambezi along most of its length - although for 500 kilometres, from Tete city to the Zambezi delta, the river is still in flood.
But on Friday it was only at Marromeu, near the river's mouth, that the Zambezi was still rising, from 7.03 metres on Thursday to 7.08 metres on Friday. This was seven centimeters higher than the river reached at Marromeu at any point during the flood of February 2007. Flood alert level at Marromeu is 4.75 metres.
Further upstream, at Caia, the river remains very high, but has fallen from 7.82 metres on Thursday to 7.79 metres on Friday. At Tete city the fall was from 5.42 to 5.28 meters. At both Caia and Tete the alert level is five metres.
Relief has also come from a slackening of rainfall in Zimbabwe which has led to a sharp fall in the level of the Save river.
The Pungue river, however, remains well above alert level, and the DNA warns that rains in the Buzi basin within Mozambique could lead to renewed flooding on this river.
Despite a sudden surge in the level of the upper Limpopo in the southern province of Gaza earlier this week, no flood has materialized in the Limpopo valley, and Friday's figures show the Limpopo dropping along its entire length within Mozambique.
A new threat comes from the Lurio, one of the major rivers of northern Mozambique. Heavy rains in this basin, the DNA warns, could lead to "localized and temporary flooding" in Cuamba, Metarica and Mecanhelas districts in Niassa province, and in Milange district in Zambezia.
According to a report in Saturday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias", rescue operations in the Zambezi valley are being hindered by some community leaders, who are urging people to abandon resettlement centres, and return to flood-prone areas. The National Civil Protection Unit (UNAPROC) has arrested one such leader (whose name was not revealed) in the Tete district of Mutarara.
Joao Ribeiro, deputy director of the government's relief agency, the National Disaster Management Institute (INGC), told reporters that work is being undertaken on the ground to explain to the flood victims why they should remain in the resettlement areas. The whole point of evacuating people from dangerous areas was to save lives, he stressed.
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The fact that the Zambezi is now falling along most of its length is not a good argument for the flood victims to return to their former homes. The rainy season lasts until the end of March, and there is no guarantee that there will not be renewed flooding before then.
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| Copyright © 2008 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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