WATER, a source of life or destruction?

Water they say is life! And without water, we will not be able to survive. Plants need water to survive, animals need water to survive, and as for human beings, we need water to wash our clothes, cook our food, clean our homes, offices and vehicles, bath, and above all drink. It is sad to note that a lot of communities in Ghana do not have access to portable drinking water! They may be sharing the same water source with their animals, and when the sources of water dry up in the dry season, they have to walk several miles in search of water for household use. Children especially girls have to walk long distances in search of water and are often tired that they cannot learn after school. This can negative effects on their academic performance.

In the irony of all this, water is carrying away people and their property in the cities! Just a little rain and people’s homes are filled with water, their property is washed away and most importantly, they loose their lives. Flooding is not anything new in this country, however, much has not been done to address this situation, year after

year, many lives are lost and property destroyed. The other day, one passenger in a trotro sarcastically remarked if there are no floods, there will be nothing for the NADMO officials to do, which I think is not good enough a reason why we should be happy when there is a disaster. Policy makers visit media houses and make long speeches as to how the situation will not be repeated in the coming years, it does repeats itself anyway. The worst of it all was the one that occurred in June 2015 ad has come to be known as the JUNE 3RD DISASTER!

The reasons why I think the flood situation is not  getting any better is that people

have put up all kinds of structures and some of these structures are put up along the path of water and it makes it difficult for water to find its way when it rains in the cities. Could it be that the officials who are supposed to see to it that people do not put up their buildings in waterways are probably sympathetic towards the people  and therefore are not able to stop them when they are putting up these structures or are they simply failing to do their duties? It is very common to find inscriptions like “STOP WORK BY AMA”, “REMOVE BY TMA”, “PRODUCE PERMIT BY WMA” and so on uncompleted buildings that are not situated properly. After a few days, the order is taken off and people continue work again. Sometimes, they even ignore the order to produce permit and continue with their work. If the assembly goes to destroy the building, we the same people who are likely to become victims of flood will see them as wicked people who have no sympathy for the masses. Most people also build their houses haphazardly, not taking into consideration water will pass when it rains.

Secondly, we use a lot of plastic waste in the cities and sadly we are not able to dispose them well. People drink water and throw the empty water sachet anywhere anyhow. It therefore becomes difficult for water to penetrate into the surface of the earth when it rains since plastic materials do not degrade quickly like other materials such as wood, and that is one of the reasons why we have to suffer floods anytime it rains in the cities.  Poor drainage systems in our towns and cities have also contributed immensely to flooding in these areas. In Accra, Kumasi and other cities, drainage systems are poorly constructed. The drains and gutters constructed are not spacious enough to ensure easy flow of water anytime it rains. The result is that when the rains fall heavily, there is an overflow of water, even in areas considered to be dry and flood free. To add insult to injury, most of these gutters and drains are heavily pregnant with filth and very choked that water can hardly pass through them.

What can be done to reduce the situation? What can I do to help address this

challenge? What can you do? What can we all do to? It all boils down to change of attitude towards the environment. We should learn and practice how to dispose off waste properly. Recently, I saw some pictures of how plastic bottles are use to nurse flowers, used to make tables and how some people even used them to put up a building. Proper disposal of waste will mean that our gutters will no longer will choked and water will flow freely through them. It will also mean that the earth surface will be able to absorb the water quickly whenever it rains and there will be no or little water left.

Again, the officials in charge of housing should be more strict in enforcing the rules. When people are putting up their houses at places where houses are not supposed to be, they have to stop them from doing so because they are not going to be the only

people to suffer should there be any disaster. Everyone suffers the consequences either directly or indirectly. Town and Country Planners should develop a well laid settlement and ensure that people building their houses according to the plan they have laid. We could also find a way of harvesting rainwater for household use, this will also reduce the amount of water that runs into the streets and go waste anytime it rains.

Let us all try as much as possible to change our attitude towards the environment because it is a necessary ingredient towards a flood free Ghana. The Ghana that you and I dream of. The Ghana that we want our children to inherit. CHEERS!