Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

By Wangari Njuguna

Ndakaini dam in Murang’a whose water level is a few inches to the brim now poses a flooding risk, the Mets have warned.

Murang’a county meteorological officer Paul Murage has issued a heavy flooding alert to the people living in lower parts of the dam, Ithanga lower Gatanga

He said the spillage of the dam through Thika river is likely to have a ripple effect to the people living downstream.

The officer said the situation is worsened by Sasumwa dam in Nyandarua which is spilling its overflow via river Chania and the increased water volumes in the two rivers can cause damage.

“Chania river is already swollen due to the spillage from Sasumwa and our worry is that if we get the spillage from Ndakaini dam the people living downstream might suffer” he said.

Murage said Ndakaini is set to be full in three days as has now reached 91 percent.

“The water volume in the dam has been rising steadily with 3 percent very day and going by our projection it shall be full by Wednesday” he said.

He however said there is no cause of alarm for those living around the dam is they do not anticipate a dam burst.

The met officer said the rainfall received this season is triple fold of what the area usually gets.

Meanwhile area governor Mwangi Wa Iria has ordered for the assessment of all the dams in the area to ascertain their condition and capacity to hold water.

The governor notes with concern that out of 30 dams, only six are manned and managed by private firms, the rest have been abandoned.

This, he said is a recipe for disaster as most of them are already full and can spill over and cause damage to those living around.

“We are sitting on a time bomb and if we are not careful things can turn out ugly” he said.

“Some of these dams could be having weak walls and they can burst anytime causing massive destruction” he remarked.

Wa Iria said a comprehensive risk analysis of all the dams and necessary precautionary measures to be taken.

The governor said an enforcement team shall be dispatched to Ithanga to mobilize people to move to safer grounds should the disaster strike ” he said.