THE Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) says K6 million has been released to work on drainages in Kanyama compound following serious flooding that left some families stranded.

And Kanyama Ward 10 councilor Brighton Bvilumba says two people have died due to flooding in Kanyama.

A rain forecast by the Meteorological Department last month indicated that Lusaka and other parts of the country would experience flooding this rainy season.

In an interview, DMMU senior communications officer Rachel Chama said Unit was working with Defence forces to ensure that drainages in Kanyama were worked on to cushion the impact of flooding in the area.

“For Kanyama, we received about K6 million from the Ministry of Finance to do the drainages. We engaged the Zambia National Service and the Zambian Army and they are on the ground. If you go there, you will find them on the ground working on the drainages. The process will last for 45 days to complete the drainages,” Chama said.

And on the Mumbwa flooding that was caused by the bursting of a dam following heavy rains, she said all families in affected areas had been moved to safety.

“We visited Mumbwa last week with other stakeholders in the Ministry of Water Development. We moved the people that were living in the areas hit by the floods and we have given them the necessary support. The flooding that happened in Mumbwa was a result of a dam that burst. We were actually there with the Ministry of Water Development and Ministry of Agriculture,” said Chama. “Apparently, it was an issue of maintenance. It wasn’t maintained for a long time so they are working on it. The dam burst and that is the water that affected the residents. People built their houses down stream and so when the water came down, it just went into the houses. Unfortunately, we lost lives. But they are currently working on it, the dam is under the Ministry of Agriculture, so they are fixing it.”

And Bvilumba, in an interview, said two people had died due to flooding in Kanyama.

“The situation here is not good, that I can confirm. I can just confirm two lives that have been lost due to the floods. The other is a child, we are just from burying and the other one just occured yesterday around 20:00 hours where a woman of about 28 years drowned. Many homes are submerged in water. Lusaka City Council and DDMU are also on the ground doing one or two things,” said Bvilumba. “The damage is quite massive, it cannot be contained within a short period. As I am speaking, people are on the ground to see if they can open where water has been blocked, so that it can start moving.”