BWB to start Mudi Dam phase two rehabilitation

Blantyre Water Board (BWB) says it will start phase two of rehabilitation of Mudi Dam which involves engaging a consultant to assess economic viability and analyses to come up with recommended rehabilitation procedures.

In an interview yesterday, BWB director of technical services Mavuto Chiipanthenga said the board already has options on how to rehabilitate the dam, which was invaded by Kachere, Makhetha and Ndirande farmers.
“The first option is dredging where we remove silt from the dam. The second one will be reconstruction of the dam to strengthen concrete structures,” he said.
The first phase of the dam’s rehabilitation involved evicting farmers from its catchment area, planting 50 000 trees and allowing natural vegetation to grow in the catchment area.
In 2015, BWB paid compensation to the encroachers as settlement for the fruit trees they planted in the catchment area, but continued with their activities which included putting up brick kilns. This was being done despite the board giving them a time frame of June 1 to September 7 to vacate the land.
The encroachers had a rude awakening in October 2015 when they found their brick kilns reduced to rubble in an operation initiated by BWB. About 30 kilns were destroyed during the operation. n