WHY ARE NEW DEVELOPING COMMUNITIES IN GREATER ACCRA FLOODING?
There are several new settlements developing in Accra, faster than road networks can catch up.
The reality on the ground in these new areas is that the developments happen way before the road and highway networks reach there.
In a few years, these communities begin to flood and the entire population begin to wonder why.
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THE CAUSE:
Gutters [drains] being constructed are higher than the entire surrounding environment when they are supposed to he engineered to be lower to allow for a natural flow of run-off water.
There is the machinery and the work force on site to engineer, to dig and to do proper drains that are adequately below ground level;
that can channel communal run-off water when it rains;
But the drains ended up being constructed small and on the surface!
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THE EFFECTS
Several residences, if not all, under construction will have to in-fill their construction sites to match up to this height.
All this filling comes at an extra cost.
Depending on the size of the community, that is a whole lot of filling because of poorly engineered and constructed drains.
Those that do not do this filling before construction and do not raise their building’s ground floor levels to be higher than the road level run the risk of having run-off from the road entering their homes and that from their sites not being able to get into the drain in front of their house.
This will lead to flooded homes in the entire community after a few hours of rain.
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THE QUESTIONS THAT NEED ANSWERING:
Why are the roads and drains being poorly engineered and constructed?
Who is approving these poorly planned road and drain construction?
Where are our road and hydrological engineers and why are they approving and allowing this poor quality of work?
Why do those in charge, from the Assemblies, to the Municipalities all the way up to the Ministry of Roads and Highways allow this to happen?
Where is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and all the other Agencies supposed to be looking out for the causes of flooding and to help avert them from the onset doing?
When it rains, how exactly is the run-off water from the surrounding environment supposed to get into the drains and to be channeled away to prevent communal flooding?
How and why are drains being designed to be above the surrounding environment in a developing area?
How is the rain water supposed to go from a lower ground in a higher drain?
Why will our new developing areas like TseAddo and “East Legon Hills” not flood after a few hours of rain?
Why are we are all Developing Accra to flood some more and watching on while it happens?
Do share your thoughts with us.
To be Continued…..
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Greening Ghana 