Comes the rain comes the agony and lamentations as to just when the burden of flooding around Nyabugogo and its environs would be permanently sorted. Serious efforts were put in redeveloping the major drainage channel to ease clogging but the floods have not entirely abetted in the vicinity. The result has been continued losses of businesses and profits. A survey on how small businesses in Kigali were being affected by recurrent flooding indicates that traders in the area experienced losses estimated at Rwf178.2 million in direct and indirect damages caused by the floods. At an estimated total annual profit of Rwf633.1 million, the surveyed businesses reported an annual damage cost of Rwf620,000 per business, way higher than the annual profit margin. As a result, the researchers warned that small businesses around Nyabugogo River, Gatsata and other water catchment areas in Kigali could face further losses due to flooding if no urgent actions are taken to address the problem. The survey was an eye-opener, giving an estimate of the reality on the ground. One wouldn’t commend the effort more. But is just another step on the rungs of the ladder after reality now before the country revealed that clearing the first rung—the refurbishment of the drainage channel—was not enough to rest the flood menace. The survey calls for serious charting of ways to check and curb the flooding since measures affected businesses have taken such as creating flood barriers, creating ditches around the buildings and using waterproof building materials are not enough. But why do these areas flood in the first place? The answers will be a yardstick for measures to be taken. A combination of poor dumping, blocking water channels with structures, congestion and reclamation of water catchment areas, among others, could be some of the human activities to blame.
