Maputo, Mozambique — Traffic has resumed on the Beira-Zimbabwe road, which had been closed as the Pungue river had flooded the Mutua-Tica stretch of the road, in Nhamatanda district, in the central Mozambican province of Sofala.

However, since the level of the Pungue has subsided, the authorities decided that re-opening the road was safe. The National Water Board said on Monday that the level of the river fell from 8.4 metres on Sunday to 8.29 metres on Monday at 8.00 local time (6.00 GMT).

During the few days the road was closed, dozens of trucks and buses were stranded at either end of the flooded stretch. Traffic by road was impossible from Beira, not only west to Zimbabwe, but also south to Maputo.

Cited by Radio Mozambique, Americo Muianga, the head of the water board, said that the Mozambican authorities were still waiting for a reply from the managers of the Kariba dam, jointly managed by Zambia and Zimbabwe, as regards a proposal to close a floodgate on the dam in order to lessen the volume of water flowing into flood-stricken Zambezi valley.

"The first meeting with the Zambian authorities was a contact at a political level and they understood our situation, and at a second meeting it was concluded that the problem being presented by Mozambique was pertinent, but we're still waiting for the reply," said Muianga.