Emmanuel Agaba, one of the change agents says the residents have put up disaster management committees manned by volunteers who continue to sensitize residents to protect River Mubuku and its tributaries.
Residents of Karusandara Sub County in Kasese District are embarking
on initiatives to mitigate future flooding in the area.
Kasese has been prone to floods which have led to displacement of residents
from their homes.
Karusandara Sub County is one of worst flood-hit areas.
Emmanuel Agaba, one of the change agents says the
residents have put up disaster management committees manned by volunteers
who continue to sensitize residents to protect River Mubuku and its
tributaries.
Gideon Sande, a resident of Kibuga village in Karusandara who lost nearly 5
acres of maize in 2013, says that they started planting trees along the banks
of River Mubuku as an intervention to mitigate future flooding.
Sande says that individuals in the community have voluntarily
taken on a campaign to drum for the end any human activities along the river
banks to control silting and erosion.
He says they have constituted community teams that monitor the behaviour of
water levels to detect any early warning signs of disaster.
//Cue in “Hati nkanyowe nkaba…
Cue out: …kusinga kusarura biche.”//,
An elder Felix Kabarole Felix, says that they have been sensitizing the
community to plant trees and eliminate grazing of animals along the river
banks.
//Cue n: Tukaba ntubonabona muno…
Cue out: …. hati buli haihuru..”//
The LC III Chairperson Karusandara, Ezra Turyahebwa, says that the local
community has been trained in practices that can reduce on flooding including
good cultivation practices.
Augustine Kooli, the Kasese District Environment Officer states that the
district with different partners and the local residents have managed to
construct community gabions, a mini irrigation scheme and put up community
early warning system through public address system.
He says communities have voluntarily been cleaning the river to keep
it de-congested with waste.
//Cue in” “We also have a community radio…
Cue out: …disaster management issues.”//
River Mubuku is one of the many that originate from Kasese side of
Mt Rwenzori, which usually turns vicious when it bursts its banks affecting lowland
sub-counties during the rainy season.
